The Fight Against Evil
by icedrake1
Summary: AU Post Btvs S6 and HP OOTP with a few changes. Most important is that Tara did not die. There are no long lost relatives. No one has a wand hidden up their sleeve for the past few years. BuffyAngel (Replaced chaper 9, added chapter 11)
1. Changes to the original Story

Changes to the original script of Buffy S6  
  
Willow and Tara never split up. Instead, Tara helped Willow through her magic addiction and Willow has learned the difference between magic use and magic abuse.  
  
Xander and Anya are married and Anya got her vengeance demon powers back as a wedding present from her boss.  
  
Amy got turned back into a human and disappeared to parts unknown  
  
Spike doesn't appear in my story. Assume he got dusted a long time ago  
  
When Tara got shot by Warren, she didn't die and Willow healed her and Buffy using magic.  
  
When Warren was trying to escape the wrath of the Scooby gang, he managed to run in front of a truck and get himself killed.  
  
Giles never came back.  
  
*****  
  
Changes to Angel  
  
I don't follow the TV series at all for Angel. What happens in my version is that Angel goes to LA, joins up with Cordelia, Wesley and Gunn. They also resuce Fred from Pylea and make enemies of Wolfram and Hart. Darla and Holtz do not feature in my version of Angel. 


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1  
  
"So, when and where's the meeting gonna be held?" Tara asked her girlfriend.  
  
"Tomorrow, midnight at a clearing halfway between Sunnydale and LA," answered Willow Rosenberg, student-cum-computer hacker-cum-wiccan extraordinaire.  
  
"That's awfully vague as directions go," Buffy commented. "What you just said can cover a whole lot of area on the map."  
  
"Its meant to be that way," Anya explained. "That way, no one can find out about the wiccan meetings and start another round of witch hunts. I think the wiccans prefer it that way. There will be an energy field set up around the meeting area that only wiccans can sense."  
  
Buffy, Dawn, Xander, Anya, Willow and Tara shared a grin. An hour ago, Willow had just received word from the internet wiccan grapevine that the annual wiccan's meeting was going to be held within an hour's drive from Sunnydale. Apart from Anya, no one had heard of any meetings by wiccans and were busy hounding her for information.  
  
"I'm a wiccan, right? Why haven't I heard about wiccan meetings before?" Willow asked.  
  
"Well, we're on a hellmouth, for one thing," Anya replied helpfully. "I don't imagine many wiccans willing to come over to spread the news. I think they're afraid that they could get disemboweled or maybe have their hearts ripped out or something."  
  
"You also told us that the information on the internet was encoded, right?" Buffy added. "Only wiccans who have a sufficient level of magical power would be able to see through the glamour and get the message. Maybe you weren't actively looking for it last year since we were distracted with that whole Glory thing."  
  
"Who cares why we didn't know it last year," Dawn interrupted. "The question to ask is whether we're going tomorrow."  
  
"We?" Willow asked, raising an eyebrow.  
  
"You really think you and Tara are going to go to this meeting without us?" Dawn demanded. "Besides, school's out and its vacation time."  
  
"You know, Dawn's right," Buffy said thoughtfully.  
  
"She is?" Xander, asked, surprised.  
  
"I am?" Dawn said, equally startled. "I mean, of course I am," she added hastily as Buffy turned to look at her.  
  
"The thing is," Buffy said, nailing Dawn with a penetrating gaze, "the hellmouth hasn't been throwing anything particularly nasty at us. We could take a night off to go to a meeting. Who knows. Maybe it'll be relaxing."  
  
"Any idea what's gonna happen there?" Dawn asked curiously.  
  
"Well, the first thing on the list would be the election of the new coven," Anya replied.  
  
"Huh?" was the general response around the room.  
  
"The coven," Anya elaborated, "is a group of thirteen wiccans who make any decisions that can influence the wiccan society as a whole. They get the number thirteen because whenever they have to vote on something, there won't be a tie. Basically, they just make sure that ordinary people don't find out about wiccans and deal with any problems that could expose wiccan society to the rest of the world. The election process is basically a one- on-one duel with an existing member of the coven. The winner gets to be one of the coven, the loser steps out and is not allowed to take part in any other duels for the rest of the night."  
  
Anya frowned. "Actually, the duel can take place at any time. Any time someone wants to be in the coven, they can just challenge any member of the coven to a duel. The only rule is that both of them have to be at full strength. They have a potion that can restore magical energy instantly to a magic user bringing them to full strength but the potion only works on one day of every year."  
  
"Which is tomorrow," Buffy interrupted, as light bulbs suddenly appeared over everyone's heads.  
  
"Yep," Anya nodded. "After every duel, the winner can just drink the potion and go on to the next challenger instead of waiting a few days to let his magical reserves recover. After the coven has been decided, any big issues that needs to be resolved are brought up and if there are no big issues for them to discuss, the wiccans usually sit around and talk until sunrise, and then they go home."  
  
"That's it?" Xander asked.  
  
"Yeah," Anya replied. "Basically, its just a chance for wiccans to mingle around with other wiccans. Oh, one more thing. Non-wiccans have to be vouched for by a wiccan before they can attend the meeting."  
  
"Tara and I can vouch for anyone who wants to come," Willow said immediately and Tara nodded her agreement.  
  
"Then its settled," Xander exclaimed. "All those who wish to go raise their hands."  
  
Everyone's hands were lifted up immediately.

* * *

A select group of people were sitting in Dumbledore's office. Most important of all, was of course, Dumbledore himself. With him, were Professors McGonagall, Snape and Flitwick. Also in attendance were Arthur Weasley, Mad Eye Moody, Remus Lupin, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermoine Granger.  
  
"I'm sure you all are wondering why I've called you here," Dumbledore began quietly.  
  
"I sure am," Harry grumbled. Ever since the death of his godfather, Sirius Black, Harry had slipped into a state of moodiness mixed with a healthy dose of despair. Even the subsequent offering of an Order of Merlin, First Class to Sirius from the ministry for his efforts against the Death Eaters and Voldemort did not shake Harry from his current mood – not that anyone expected it to. Sirius was dead and no matter how many titles or medals, he was given, it wouldn't bring him back. The innocence of Sirius Black was on the front page of every paper and magazine for about a week. The ministry was taking on a lot of heat from the public for their refusal to acknowledge the return of Voldemort in the first place as well as their initial condemnation of Sirius. In short, the ministry had become very unpopular with the public and confidence in Fudge had plummeted to amazing lows.  
  
"I mean, you tell me that I absolutely have to be at Privet Drive or else Voldemort will be able to find me and then three days after I return there, Professor McGonagall shows up and tells me to pack my things and that I'm coming back to Hogwarts," Harry said crossly.  
  
"You are here because it appears that we may have a new development concerning our fight against Voldemort," Dumbledore continued smoothly, ignoring Harry's rudeness and everyone's reaction to the name, 'Voldemort'. "And since your friends fall into trouble as easily as yourself, I find it prudent for you three to be present at this meeting so that you may be in possession of certain information." Here, Dumbledore took a deep breath before adding, "I believe that we may have found a new ally against Voldemort."  
  
As if on cue, someone knocked on the door and came in. Everyone stared at the woman who walked in. The first thing they observed was that the woman was in muggle clothes. A gray shirt, dark blue jeans and a red jacket hung from her slender form. Shoulder length dark hair framed a face that could only be described as beautiful.  
  
"What's a muggle doing here," Snape spat out before anyone else could say a word. "Is she going to help us against the Dark Lord? A muggle is powerless against him. In fact, any of his Death Eaters could easily have her for breakfast before she can do anything."  
  
The rest of the room winced at Snape's rudeness. Everyone knew that they needed all the help they could get against Voldemort and Snape's attitude was not one that would encourage people to ally with their side.  
  
However, before anyone could manage to come up with an apology, the woman had turned towards Snape. In the brightly lit room, everyone could see her eyes turn dark before she waved her hand in a curious gesture and muttered an incantation that was too soft for everyone to hear.  
  
They saw the effects of her actions though. Before their eyes, Snape's mouth vanished. Between his nose and chin, there was a flat surface of unbroken skin. Almost everyone's mouth dropped open. Harry observed that Dumbledore did not react so obviously but he could see that Dumbledore was startled as well.  
  
"If you cannot respect your betters, insolent whelp, it would be best if you remained silent," the woman said, her calm demeanor in striking contrast with the panic that could now be seen in Snape's eyes.  
  
The woman dropped into an empty chair and nodded towards Dumbledore. Recovering his composure quickly, Dumbledore introduced her to the rest of the room as Laura Henderson.  
  
After the introductions were complete – and Snape's mouth was restored at Dumbledore's request – they turned to more serious topics.  
  
"Miss Henderson is a practitioner of wiccan magic," Dumbledore announced to the entire room.  
  
"Wiccan magic?" asked Hermione. "Magic practiced by muggles? But its impossible. Muggles can't have magic. Wiccan magic is just fakery. All the books say so."  
  
Everyone winced again as Hermoine suddenly realized what she had said and turned pale when Laura turned to look at her. But this time, Laura looked more amused than anything.  
  
"Why is it impossible for muggles to have magic?" Laura asked Hermoine in a neutral tone, although her eyes were still dancing with suppressed laughter.  
  
"Umm... I don't know," Hermoine responded warily. "But all the books say so."  
  
"And so because its written in a book, then it must be true. Is that what you're saying?" Everyone could see that Laura was definitely enjoying this.  
  
"Why else would they be printed," Hermoine challenged. "If it wasn't true, then it wouldn't have been printed at all, wouldn't it?"  
  
"Oh?" Laura said blandly. "So every time words are printed and allowed for mass distribution, then the words must be true?" Before Hermoine could interrupt, she continued, but this time with a hard edge to her voice. "Have you forgotten what was printed about Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew?"  
  
Hermoine couldn't say anything after that. How could she, when just a few weeks ago, bookstores were selling books extolling the bravery and heroism of Peter Pettigrew while condemning Sirius Black as a cold-blooded murderer.  
  
"Let this be my first lesson to you, young fledging," Laura said, amused. "Books are not the answer to questions. Books merely give you the opinion of the author. You have a choice to agree with that opinion or not. Books can guide you, acting as signposts but whether that signpost points you in the right direction is another thing altogether. If you want answers that come from yourself, you will have to find them for yourself and not rely on anything else."  
  
Hermoine fell silent after that and Dumbledore continued his speech. "Miss Henderson is also a member of the coven," which sparked off another round of explanations of what the coven was and what it did.  
  
After the explanations, Arthur Weasley spoke up hopefully, "And the coven would be willing to help us against the Dark Lord?"  
  
"If I'm still one of the coven after tomorrow's election, I will definitely push forward with that suggestion. If I'm defeated in a duel, then I'll bring up that suggestion with the coven in the strongest possible terms."  
  
Remus sat up. "If, assuming that we manage to secure the help of the wiccans, how much help can we expect from them?" At Laura's raised eyebrow, Remus continued hurriedly, "I mean how powerful are the wiccans? I'm not doubting the abilities of Miss Henderson, of course, but how powerful are the rest of the wiccans as compared to the witches and wizards of the wizarding world?"  
  
Laura shrugged. "There's no one answer to that question, I'm afraid. I'm sure that in your world, some of you are stronger in terms of magical abilities than others? I know that some witches and wizards can cast death curses without any problems but there are also some who have problems with lighting a candle with a spell."  
  
At everyone's agreement, she continued, "It's the same with wiccans. Some of us can barely levitate a pencil but some of us can throw fireballs without any problems. The amount of magical power we have is similar to your society. Some have more power, some have less. Its only that the magical powers we control are different, but not more or less powerful."  
  
Professor McGonagall spoke up thoughtfully, "Are we allowed to accompany you to the wiccan meeting tomorrow?"  
  
"Of course, but I'll have to vouch for anyone who isn't a wiccan. I think that would include all of you. However, if you're there, you can make the appeal for help in person when I introduce the problem of Voldemort. I take it that everyone in this room wants to go?"  
  
There was a chorus of agreement from everyone except Snape who was still afraid of opening his mouth.  
  
"Are you going?" Laura asked Snape directly.  
  
Snape nodded his head vigorously, still not daring to open his mouth.  
  
"Then its settled," Laura said, rubbing her hands with satisfaction. "Are there any other questions?"  
  
"Just one."  
  
Everyone turned towards Harry who had uttered the last comment. Harry blushed but kept on talking. "If the coven is determined by duels, does that mean that you are one of the thirteen strongest witches in the world?"  
  
"Officially, yes," Laura answered.  
  
"Officially?"  
  
"There could be wiccans who are more powerful than us but simply do not wish to be part of the coven for various reasons," Laura explained.  
  
"Are there any exceptionally powerful wiccans?" Moody asked, realizing what Harry was getting at. "In the wizarding world, Dumbledore and Voldemort are known as the most powerful wizards around. Isn't there any wiccan who shares the same reputation in your society that Dumbledore and Voldemort have in our world?"  
  
Laura frowned. "Well, there are rumors that a wiccan over at Sunnydale managed a successful resurrection spell but nobody's willing to make a trip to the hellmouth to confirm it."  
  
"Its impossible. No one can cast a resurrection spell," Ron burst out without thinking.  
  
Laura turned to Ron whose face had turned a fascinating shade of red. "How old are you this year?" she asked curiously.  
  
"Sixteen," Ron answered.  
  
"And in sixteen years, you've managed to find out everything that's possible and impossible?"  
  
"Everyone says that a resurrection spell requires too much energy and is too complicated to cast," Ron mumbled. "And no one's ever cast a resurrection spell before."  
  
"Everyone also once said that the Earth was flat," Laura countered. "And just because something has never been done before doesn't mean that it cannot be done."  
  
Professor Flitwick piped up, "Miss Henderson, when you said resurrection, do you mean raising skeletons and zombies or ..."  
  
"I was talking about true resurrection, Professor Flitwick, not corpse animation," Laura said.  
  
"Maybe we'll meet this wiccan at tomorrow's meeting," Harry said hopefully.  
  
"Maybe," Laura replied. "That's one reason why the meeting this year is located near Sunnydale. The wiccan community would also like to verify the truth of the rumor, and by placing the meeting location near Sunnydale, we're hoping that she'll turn up."  
  
"Does the rumors have a name to go with that particular wiccan?" Dumbledore enquired.  
  
"Yup," Laura answered. "Willow Rosenberg." 


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
  
"You have got to be kidding me," Angel said, glaring at the man seated in front of him on a chair in the lobby of the Hyperion Hotel. Behind him, Gunn, Fred, Wesley and Cordelia looked at the man with equal amounts of disbelief.  
  
"I'm afraid not, Angel," the man replied. "Believe it or not, Wolfram and Hart do need your assistance."  
  
"I'm leaning heavily towards the 'not'," Cordelia muttered.  
  
"Mr Beaker, what's so big that it exceeds the capabilities and resources of Wolfram and Hart to handle," Wesley asked, curious, in spite of himself.  
  
"Apparently, there's a new power rising," Beaker replied. "He calls himself Voldemort. He's been amassing an army of vampires and demons. Normally, this wouldn't bother us. We would take a few precautions against him and eliminate him if we deem it necessary. However, it appears that we have underestimated him. His reach is longer than we have anticipated and in fact, many of the demons who were under our employ has now joined his side." Claude Beaker, representative of Wolfram and Hart, winced as the said the last part.  
  
The Angel Investigations group looked at one another. They knew that Wolfram and Hart is the main source of organized evil in the world. The birth of another organization with even greater influence than Wolfram and Hart was not a pleasant thought to comprehend.  
  
"And you want us to handle this Voldemort guy and neutralize him?" Gunn asked warily.  
  
"Yes. If you take the job, we'll let you take over the LA branch of Wolfram and Hart as compensation," Beaker replied.  
  
Everyone sat up at that. "You'll let us take over the LA branch of Wolfram and Hart?" Angel asked in a disbelieving tone, wondering if his vampiric hearing had somehow malfunctioned. On second thoughts, seeing the expressions of the other members of his team, it appeared that his hearing was fine.  
  
"Yes," came the simple reply.  
  
The first thought that came to everyone's mind was 'It's a trick'. The second thought was 'What if its not?'  
  
Okay, maybe not the second thought. Not even the third thought. More like the fifth or sixth thought.  
  
Angel abruptly stood up. "You," he said, pointing at Beaker, "stay here. The rest of you, in the office."  
  
The Angel Investigations group went into Angel's office where he picked up a phone. Dialing a familiar number, he waited until someone picked it up at the other end.  
  
"Lorne, its Angel," Angel said quietly. "I was wondering if you've heard anything about a new power in town. Some guy named Voldemort."  
  
"Hey, Angelcakes. What happened to you. You haven't called since yesterday. Don't you love me anymore?" Lorne said cheerfully.  
  
"Lorne," Angel's voice held a note of warning.  
  
"Um... right. So Voldemort eh? From what I've heard, he's what you would term a Big Bad, I suppose. His final goal is to eradicate all humans from the face of the earth. He's recruiting various demons and vampires to prepare for something. There are unconfirmed rumors that he's planning something against Wolfram and Hart. I've also heard that he's planning something at the wiccan's meeting tonight."  
  
"So this Voldemort is a legitimate threat?" Angel asked, as his team clustered around the speaker.  
  
"I'd say so, yeah," Lorne replied.  
  
"Thanks Lorne," Angel said before cutting him off.  
  
Looking around at his team, Angel asked, "So, what do you guys think? Should we help?"  
  
"Look Angel," Cordelia replied. "I'm sure that Wolfram and Hart have their own agenda but this Voldemort creep seems pretty serious as well. If Wolfram and Hart falls, we would be facing this new guy and if he has the resources to take down the main player of evil, I don't think we can do much about him when he gains enough influence such that he doesn't need to operate from underground any more."  
  
"I'd have to agree," Fred said nervously. "Helping Wolfram and Hart definitely does not make me happy but I'd rather that than face up against an unknown that's even more powerful and evil."  
  
"Then we're agreed," Angel said, looking at his team. Everyone nodded firmly. They walked out of the office and focused their attention on Beaker.  
  
"We agree to your terms," Angel said. Everyone could see Beaker relaxing. "But I have one more condition," Angel continued. Beaker tensed up again. Everyone was looking at Angel and wondering what he was up to.  
  
"I want you to get Faith out of jail to help us," Angel said in a tone that told people that he was not in the mood for negotiations.  
  
His team looked at one another, then shrugged their shoulders. Gunn and Fred had not met Faith before. Wesley had been tortured by Faith before but he admitted that his handling of Faith in the first place left a lot to be desired. Living with actual people instead of rubbing shoulders with the Council had showed him how stupendously short-sighted and old fashioned the Council was and made him wonder how on earth it had managed to survive thus far. Cordelia did not have much of an opinion of Faith since she did not come into contact with her much. This was Angel's choice and they had no problems with that.  
  
Beaker nodded. "That should not be a problem. Our lawyers can start the paperwork right away and we can have her cleared of all charges and free by this afternoon."  
  
"Good," Angel said in a tone that said clearer than words that this meeting was over. "I'll send Wesley and Cordelia in the car to pick her up."  
  
Claude Beaker rose from the chair and made his way out of the Hyperion while Angel and his team went back into his office to discuss what they were going to do.

* * *

"So, your idea is to crash the wiccan meeting tonight and see what's going on?" Faith asked doubtfully.  
  
Initially, Faith had been understandably wary of the team, especially of Wesley. However, when they showed her that they held no grudges, she had become more confident and now participated actively in the discussions.  
  
"Yes," Angel replied. "Lorne says that Voldemort has something planned there and it will give us some idea of what we're dealing with. Apart from that, we also have to break up whatever plans Voldemort has in store for the meeting."  
  
"Just one question," Gunn piped in. "Do we know where the meeting's going to be held?"  
  
"Only in the most general sense," Fred admitted reluctantly. "Somewhere in the middle between LA and Sunnydale."  
  
At the mention of Sunnydale, Angel had to ruthlessly squash the image of a blonde girl that suddenly appeared in his mind.  
  
"The phrase 'Somewhere in the middle between LA and Sunnydale' covers over a few square miles of territory, Fred," Cordelia said unhappily. "Can't you narrow it down a little?"  
  
"I'm afraid not," Fred said. "It seems to me that only wiccans can find the meeting spot. I think that some kind of beacon that only wiccans can sense is set up at the meeting place. Also, I think that all non-wiccans need to have a wiccan vouch for them if they are to attend the meeting."  
  
"I've a suggestion," Wesley said. "Why don't we just ask Wolfram and Hart to provide us with a wiccan to show us the way and vouch for us?"  
  
The expressions on everyone's faces did not seem to indicate a great deal of confidence in Wesley's suggestion.  
  
"Right, stupid idea, never mind," Wesley mumbled.  
  
"Why don't we just go to the general location of the meeting and find a wiccan. Then we can just follow her to the meeting and stay out of sight," Faith suggested.  
  
Everyone blinked. "That's not a bad plan," Cordelia said cautiously. "But its wiccans we're talking about. Don't they have ways to ensure that they aren't being followed? I'm sure that they would take every precaution to ensure that no one follows them to the meeting. With the magic they possess, I think they would be able to know when somebody's following them."  
  
"That's a good point," Angel said. "However, although I'm sure that their precautions can throw off any ordinary human, I don't think I'd lose a person I was following, and I can practically guarantee that I won't be seen."  
  
"So speaks the one who has a couple of centuries of experience in stalking people," Faith said mischievously. "You turn lurking in the shadows into an art form."  
  
Everyone else grinned as Angel glared at Faith who smiled back unrepentantly.  
  
"So does this mean that you're going alone?" Fred asked. "I mean, I don't think any of us are as good in um... lurking as you are."  
  
"I'm going along with him," Faith said immediately. "With my slayer powers, I'm sure I can keep up with any lurking that Angel does and I can watch his back as well."  
  
"Not a bad idea," Wesley agreed. "In the meantime, we can do some research about this Voldemort character that even Wolfram and Hart seem so afraid of."

* * *

"So now what." Faith asked her broody partner. They had been searching for a wiccan for almost half an hour and were still coming up empty. Not even Angel's vampiric senses or Faith's hyperactive slayer senses could pick up any human in the vicinity.  
  
As Angel was about to reply, he sensed a rippling of air just in front of him. Faith must have sensed it as well for she glided swiftly to a convenient rock nearby and crouched down behind it. Angel managed to step into the shadows behind a tree before the space where he sensed the disturbance suddenly opened up. To Angel, it seemed as if a black hole had just opened up in front of his eyes, although it was comforting that it wasn't sucking everything within its immediate vicinity into it.  
  
'A portal,' Angel thought to himself. 'Maybe its one of the wiccans,' he hoped, even though he knew that only demons had the knowledge and ability to create portals at places that did not have an unusually high concentration of magical energy, and very powerful demons at that. 'Or maybe it has something to do with Voldemort's plan,' the pessimist and realist in him acknowledged, as he got ready for battle.  
  
As Faith and Angel watched, several figures emerged from the portal. For them, the moon provided enough light to identify the features of the people stepping out of the portal. Both of them were frozen as Buffy, Dawn, Xander, Anya, Tara and Willow emerged from the black hole. They saw Willow wave her hands and mutter an incantation. The black hole squeezed in on itself until it formed a vertical line before it vanished completely.  
  
Faith and Angel remained where they were, still unable to react to the familiar faces. Faith was thinking back on all the times where she had hurt Buffy and her friends. Angel was pretty much contemplating the same thing. Both of them tensed up as Buffy suddenly snapped her head up and looked around, her eyes clearly showing that she was looking for something. Finally, she spoke up.  
  
"Angel, I know you're here."

* * *

Buffy had felt a strange sensation once she stepped out of the portal Willow had created. 'Willow had come a long way,' she thought fondly. She had worried about her friend when the magic addiction had gotten serious. Fortunately, Willow's friends had rallied around her and all of them, especially Tara, had helped her through that phase.  
  
It was a risky move, she knew. An out of control Willow could hurt any of them at any time. In fact, a time bomb would have been safer than Willow at that time. At least everyone knew what a time bomb was expected to do. Willow had been unpredictable, and coupled with the fact that she was perhaps the most powerful wiccan in the world, it made for a dangerous combination. And yet, instead of shirking away from her, putting a safe distance between them so that they wouldn't be within the blast radius when the Willow bomb exploded, they clustered around her even more than ever, trying to help her in any way they could.  
  
And their efforts had paid off. Willow had successfully beaten her addiction to magic. She had been the raw steel that was thrown into the forging fires. Within the fires, the steel could either break or be tempered into something even stronger. Buffy was delighted that it had turned out to be the second case. Now, having been tempered by the fires of magic addiction, Willow had come through it even stronger than before.  
  
It showed in the way that Willow was now learning more spells than ever, and yet not feeling the urge to use any of them if it wasn't necessary. In fact, some time ago, Tara had agreed that Willow had learned all she could from books and the only way she was going to get stronger at her magical abilities would be to experiment on her own. Anya had been a great help to her in that aspect. Having lived for over a thousand years, Anya knew magics that were thought lost in legends. Anya had explained that the reason those magics were lost was primarily due to the fact that a few centuries ago, mankind had thought that no one would have enough power to even attempt any of those magics and hence, did not bother to record them down.  
  
With Tara and Anya's help, Willow had begun experimenting with ancient, not to mention powerful, magics. One effect from helping Willow was that Tara's wiccan powers had increased enormously in the meantime, although still some levels short of Willow's power. Between the three of them, they had created the portal spell Willow had just cast. It wasn't even a spell that required much magical energy – at least according to Willow – to cast. An understanding of how Anya's teleportation powers worked, combined with Tara's knowledge of magic and Willow's fresh approach and talent towards anything wiccan in nature created that particular spell. Tara could cast it as well but at her level of power, it would drain her magical reserves significantly, so Willow, being the more powerful wiccan, was the one who created the portal.  
  
After Willow collapsed the portal, the strange sensation still did not leave Buffy. Wondering if her slayer senses were acting up because something hostile was nearby, Buffy surreptitiously scanned the surroundings. However, in the moonlight, it was evident that there were too many places to hide around the area. She did not think the sensation she was feeling indicated anything hostile, though. In fact, the only time she had felt like that before was when Angel was nearby.  
  
Her head snapped up at that thought. Angel. Could it be? She scanned the surroundings again more carefully. She noticed that her friends were looking at her, and recognizing the look on her face, had automatically prepared themselves to face anything from harmless goblins to demented hell gods. However, she also knew that Angel was a past master at concealing himself and given the many places available to hide around here, trying to locate him was a lost cause. Finally, she spoke up.  
  
"Angel, I know you're here."


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
  
"Angel, I know you're here."  
  
The words echoed throughout the surrounding area. The rest of the Scooby Gang were startled but relaxed their grip on their weapons. A moment later, two figures emerged from the darkness. One of them was Angel. The sight of the second person caused everyone's grips on their weapons to tighten again.  
  
"Faith?" Willow's exclamation sounded more like a question.  
  
It wasn't surprising that everyone was edgy around Faith, Buffy reflected. Most of them had been hurt by Faith at one time or another. However, that was a few years ago. Over these years, they had made their own mistakes and paid for them. Because of that, they now held a more charitable view of Faith. Instead of someone who had sold her services to the dark side, they now saw her as someone who had made a mistake and was now trying to make up for it.  
  
Hmm... speaking of making up for it. . .  
  
"Say Faith, aren't you supposed to be in jail?" Buffy asked suspiciously.  
  
Faith shrugged. "Angel arranged for the charges to be dropped. Apparently there's another Big Bad out there and he needed my help to stop it."  
  
Everyone looked towards Angel.  
  
"She's right," Angel confirmed. "This time, the evil mastermind goes by the name of Voldemort. He's got all the local evils all upset because he poaching their demon employees."  
  
"Why didn't you call me," Buffy asked quietly. "I could've come over to help."  
  
Xander and Anya opened their mouths. Xander probably to fire off a sarcastic remark and Anya to say something typically blunt, but true. However, before either of them could say anything, Dawn's hand had clapped over Xander's mouth and Willow's hand was covering Anya's mouth. They understood that this was between Buffy and Angel. Tara and Faith understood it too and they remained silent while the exchange between the slayer and vampire went on.  
  
Buffy's question had touched on one of Angel's most sensitive spots. Angel stared at Buffy, his eyes haunted. How could he tell her that he longed, more than anything, to have her fighting by his side. How much he wished he could just see her, to hear her voice, to touch her and reassure himself that she was safe.  
  
And how he would never let himself do any of those things. How he knew that if she were by his side, the temptation would be too great. He could easily lose himself just by looking at her eyes. Even though he knew the consequences, he was tempted to take her in his arms again, to love her, and to be loved in return. It would have been all too easy to attain that one moment of true happiness and lose his soul. Even at this moment, when he looked at her, he could still feel the desire, the love he had for her. Even after three years, the torch he held for her had still not dampened the slightest. As a matter of fact, the flames were roaring brighter and hotter than before. It wasn't easy to keep her away from his thoughts even when he was in LA. Now, just looking at her brought back feelings he had locked away for three years.  
  
For three long years, he had placed his feelings for Buffy in a compartment in his brain and then shut the door, locked it and threw away the key. A single look at her face had blasted the door to smithereens and his emotions were coming back to haunt him. How could he tell her that he couldn't be with her because he loved her? Loved her so much that it hurt?  
  
As for Buffy, she looked up at Angel's eyes and saw the emotion in them. The depths of his desire and his love for her. The lengths at which he would go to in order to ensure her safety, even at the cost of his own happiness, no, his own life. And she understood it. How could she not understand, when she was feeling the exact same way?  
  
When Angel left, she had tried to move on. With Riley, she thought she had moved on. But in the deepest recesses of her heart, it had always been Angel. That was why she and Riley broke up, no matter what excuses she may have made for herself at that time. Angel was the one she loved – and the one she could never be with. If they were together, they would not be able to resist the attraction between them and it would only end up in him losing his soul again. If that happened, she knew that she would have to kill him, and she didn't know if she could do it again. The first time she had sent him to hell, she almost broke. If she had to do it again, she did not think she could stand it.  
  
That was why she didn't keep in touch with him. How many times had she just stared at the phone, itching to pick up the receiver and dialing a number that might as well be engraved into her brain? Too many to count, she acknowledged to herself. She knew that if she had just listened to his voice, even for a moment, she would have been on the next bus to LA. That was why she never dialed that fateful number, but the temptation had almost been too much to bear at times.  
  
The rest of their friends stood there, silently observing the way Buffy and Angel were just looking at each other. The air was thick with emotions. Pain. Love. Anguish. Desire. Despair. Longing. No words were necessary between the two. Looking at each other's eyes was enough to tell them what the other thought.  
  
And their friends understood it too. Dawn was weeping openly, but silently, tears rolling down her cheeks. Willow's eyes were moist and she was on the verge of crying. Tara was fighting back tears but not being very successful in doing so, as evidenced by the wiping of her eyes with her sleeve. Xander and Anya held one another tightly, realizing what they had in one another and how lucky they were. Faith had turned her face away from them but everyone could see her shoulders shaking.  
  
Finally, Buffy broke the silence. "So, what are the two of you doing here?" she asked, attempting, without much success, to keep her voice level.  
  
"Rumor has it that Voldemort is planning something for the wiccan meeting," Angel replied, his voice low and more tightly controlled than usual.  
  
"We're heading there right now," Buffy said, a little startled. "If what you're saying is true, then its lucky that we brought weapons. But maybe Dawn should go back..."  
  
"What!" Dawn screeched. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm a big girl now and I am able to take care of myself. In fact..."  
  
"Okay, okay," Buffy responded, slightly amused. "I suppose its time you got to see some real action. You're going to need some real experience under your belt if you are to survive in this world."  
  
Dawn nodded, slightly mollified as Willow spoke up. "You guys know that you need to have a wiccan vouch for you if you want to attend the meeting, right?"  
  
"We were planning to find a wiccan and then follow her to the meeting," Faith replied. "We were planning on staying out of sight for the most part."  
  
"Well, Tara and I can vouch for you so you needn't stay out of sight," Willow said firmly. "In fact, I insist on us staying together so that if something happens at the meeting, we'll be able to meet the situation together."  
  
Faith and Angel were amenable to the suggestion and the whole group followed Willow and Tara, who, in turn, seem to be heading towards a location only they could see. On the way, Willow and Tara could see that Buffy and Angel obviously wanted to stay beside each other and yet, were afraid to do so. As such, Buffy was walking on the extreme left end of the group while Angel took the extreme right flank. Exchanging a glance, the two wiccans silently made a solemn vow to find a way to help the two lovers. They knew what it was like for two lovers to be separated. They themselves were almost separated permanently when Warren put the bullet into Tara. It was only through a very powerful and ancient spell that Willow happened to be experimenting with at that time that managed to bring Tara back from the cusp of death.  
  
'Don't worry, guys,' the Willow thought.  
  
'If there's a way to help you, we'll find it,' Tara promised herself.

* * *

On the grass, Harry, Ron and Hermoine were seated in the middle of the adults, surrounded on all sides by Dumbledore, Professors Flitwick, McGonagall and Snape, Arthur Weasley, Mad Eye Moody, Remus Lupin and Laura Henderson. Nearby, a space was set up for those who wish to take up the challenge of dueling to be in the coven. Those who had no intentions of taking part in the duels were scattered around the clearing, talking amicably to one another. Those who were taking part in the duels, however, were silent, preferring to conserve their energy.  
  
"Aren't you supposed to be over there, Miss Henderson?" Hermoine asked Laura, pointing towards the area where the dueling participants were preparing themselves.  
  
"I'm already a member of the coven," Laura replied. "I'm going to have to take part in the duels no matter where I sit."  
  
"Are all the wiccans in the world coming to this meeting?" Ron asked curiously.  
  
"Of course not," Laura chuckled. "There are wiccans in all countries, you know. And many of them do not have the time or the money to purchase a plane ticket to travel thousands of miles. That's why the annual wiccan's meeting is held at a different country every year, so that as many wiccans as possible would be able to attend at least one meeting in their lifetime. The only exception is the coven. They have to be at the meeting, no matter where they might be living. Our treasury provides the money for the transportation of the coven."  
  
They fell silent as another group approached the clearing. The redhead and the blonde who seemed to be leading the group stopped for a moment and glanced curiously at Dumbledore. Harry supposed that long, white beards were not very commonly seen. However, all of them were wearing muggle clothes, and Mad Eye Moody had an eyepatch to cover his magical eye so that they did not stick out like sore thumbs.  
  
They watched as the other group settled down near them. They seemed to be content with just watching the surrounding area, although only Dumbledore could see that something was going on with the short, blonde girl and the tall, pale, handsome, dark-haired man. Both of them kept sneaking glances at one another.  
  
'Hmm... that look in their eyes,' Dumbledore thought. 'I wonder what they must have gone through to earn that look.' Thoroughly intrigued now, Dumbledore leaned forward to ask Laura about the group.  
  
"I've never seen them before," Laura said, after giving them a measuring glance. "But that's not surprising. Half the people here, I've never met before today. I can sense that only the redhead and the tall blonde are wiccans though. The rest of them are just humans."  
  
Dumbledore nodded. He too, could sense the magic emanating from the two that Larua had pointed out. Even though wizardry and wiccan followed different paths, the common denominator connecting the two was magic. He was one of the best when it came to sensing magical energy. In fact, that was how he met Laura. He was taking a stroll through muggle London and he accidentally bumped into Laura, sending her to the floor. He had extended a hand to help her up and when their hands touched, each of them could sense the presence of another magic user, even though their magical abilities followed different disciplines. One conversation had led to another and Laura had offered the aid of the wiccans if she could convince the coven.  
  
Even though he was not familiar with wiccan magic, he could sense the magical aura around the two wiccans. He wasn't sure of the rest of the group being just human, however. There was something about their auras that seemed to indicate that they were more than just human. However, he decided to put that aside for the moment and concentrate on the two wiccans. 'The redhead appears to be the stronger of the two,' he thought to himself. 'Considering her aura, she might even be slightly more powerful than Miss Henderson, although the blonde is no pushover as well and definitely stronger than most of the wiccans here. I wonder why they're not competing in the duels.' Then he remembered that Laura had told them that not all wiccans wanted to be in the coven. 'To each, his – or her – own, I suppose,' he mused. 'But maybe I could interest them in coming to Hogwarts next semester. They could provide security for the students.'  
  
Laura stood up a second later. "Looks like its time for the meeting to start," she said calmly. She moved to the center of the clearing along with twelve other wiccans and raised her hand for silence. When she got it, she raised her voice.  
  
"Let the meeting begin."

* * *

Willow had sensed a powerful aura emanating from the old man with the long beard. A glance at Tara confirmed that she had sensed it too. Speaking mind- to-mind with her friends, Willow informed them of the situation.  
  
'Let's sit somewhere near them,' Buffy thought immediately. 'And for goodness sake, don't talk openly in front of them. Use mind-to-mind communication if you want to say anything.'  
  
Faith and Angel were a little startled by the unorthodox means of communication but they soon got used to it. Once they got settled, Willow and Tara focused their senses on the small group with the old man. They sensed immediately that apart from the dark-haired woman, the magical vibes the rest of the group were giving out were unlike the vibes from wiccan magic. Still, it was undeniably magic of some sort and Willow was determined to figure it out later.  
  
It was obvious that the old man was the most powerful among the group. The rest of the group each possessed considerable power as well. Even the three children among them had power, although it was less focused than the adults. As they were sharing the information with their friends, Willow suddenly felt a probe near her magical aura. The pressure on her hand, which was held by Tara, told her that Tara had felt it too.  
  
It was apparent that the old man was the one initiating the probe, testing Tara's and her magical auras to determine how powerful they were. However, Willow was confident that he would not get the true measure of their power. Willow and Tara had mastered many ways to dampen their magical auras some time ago. Willow had learned it first out of necessity. Her magical abilities were growing so strong that her magical aura was acting as a magnet for every supernatural being within a radius of ten miles. A night spent in feverish research led to the discovery of spells that could dampen one's magical aura. A few days of refinement and modification of existing spells had led to the creation of an aura shielding spell that could be put up or removed instantly. Even better, it required no magical energy to remove. Later, as Tara had become stronger, Willow had taught her how to dampen and shield her magical aura as well. Now, Willow had eight layers of shields on her at all times unless she removed them when she wanted to cast a powerful spell. Tara had two layers of shields on her at all times.  
  
The two wiccans did not give any sign that they knew they were being studied. In fact, Anya had told them once that no one would be able to know when someone was studying their magical aura since it was a passive spell and did not come into direct contact with the target. Willow did not agree, arguing that if a probe can sense auras, then the aura would be able to sense the probe as well. After a week of research and experimentation, Willow finally found a way for magical auras to sense probes – and lost no time in telling Anya so – thus shattering a long held, preconceived notion about magic.  
  
A moment later, the probe receded and the two wiccans relaxed. They turned their eyes to the center of the clearing as thirteen people moved there. 'The coven,' Willow thought to herself, and settled back beside Tara. She saw one of the wiccans – the same one who had been with the group beside her – raise her hand for silence and when she got it, announced the start of the meeting.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4  
  
"Let the meeting begin."  
  
The words rang loud and clear over the clearing. Everyone sat up as the coven prepared for the duels that were supposed to take place in a moment. Many vials of magic rejuvenation potion were set aside at a corner of the clearing. Thirteen people from the area where the competitors were stood up and each one of them faced a member of the coven. Everyone watched with interest as the duels began.  
  
For Buffy's group, it was a new experience for them. They had never been in a duel before. Their experiences were more of the kind where you had to fight for your life and the lives of your friends. Having a fight where both sides still remained alive after the battle was somewhat of a novelty to them.  
  
Willow and Tara were studying the techniques the wiccans were using for the duel. In some cases, the duels were simply a case of two people blasting the opponent with pure magical power until one of them overpowers the other. Willow and Tara ignored these people totally. Some of the wiccans though, were using their magic with more finesse. Miniature elementals were summoned to attack the opponent, fog was used to conceal yourself, magic was used on the terrain to hinder the opponent, magic was used on oneself to improve strength and reflexes. Some of the magics used were creative in the extreme and Willow and Tara watched on in fascination.  
  
For Dumbledore's group, most of them had observed duels before. However, those duels mainly consisted of two people standing there, throwing spells at one another until one of them was disarmed. Here, though, apart from the few who were just throwing raw magical energy at one another, the rest of the wiccans were showing them that spells could be used in more creative ways.  
  
Another difference they observed is that instead of standing there and throwing spells, the wiccans moved as they cast spells, relying on their reflexes not to get hit by an opponent's spell, rather that solely depending on their shielding spells. It was definitely more physical than the duels Dumbledore's group were accustomed to, and yet, the way the wiccans moved definitely indicated that the tactics they employed were infinitely more dangerous and effective than those used in wizarding duels.  
  
After half an hour, Dumbledore's group was pleased to note that Laura had defeated her fifth opponent. So far, only four of the original coven had been replaced by newcomers. The pool of competitors had also reduced significantly.  
  
However, another half hour later, all original members of the coven had been replaced. According to what Dumbledore had been able to sense, all the current wiccans holding the positions in the coven were only slightly less powerful than himself. Laura had gone back to her seat with Dumbledore's group and was observing the new coven who were still dueling with the last remnants of the competitors.  
  
"I'd have to say that the competition was a lot tougher than I had anticipated," Laura admitted as she watched a competitor get buried in quicksand that had suddenly appeared underneath his feet.  
  
"Is one of them Willow Rosenberg?" Harry asked softly.  
  
"I don't think so," Laura replied, frowning. The thirteen wiccans out there are powerful but none of them show signs of being powerful enough to justify all the rumors I've heard for the past few months. Either she's here and decided not to participate in the duels or she didn't come. Personally, I'm thinking that she didn't come since Albus and myself have been scanning every wiccan here and not finding anybody who has an exceptional amount of magical energy."  
  
A few minutes later, the thirteen who were being observed by Dumbledore and Laura had defeated the last of the competitors and were then officially pronounced the new coven. After that, one of the coven then asked if there were any issues anyone wanted to bring up. Apparently, it was unusual for anyone to bring up any issues for everyone seemed surprised when Laura stood up.  
  
"Members of the coven, I would like to bring up an alliance with wizards to fight against an evil creature named Voldemort," Laura announced. "I have with me, Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of the wizarding school called Hogwarts to present the appeal in person."  
  
"Denied," the coven said in unison.  
  
"What?" Laura was startled. They had not even begun to make their appeal and the coven had denied it unanimously without needing to confer first? She started to get a bad feeling in her stomach.  
  
"You see, Miss Henderson," one of the coven, a man named Ralph who seemed to be the spokesman for the coven, replied. "We have already offered our services to the Dark Lord and he has accepted."  
  
"What!"  
  
This time, it was another member of the original coven who had jumped up. Laura remembered that his name was Shawn Oakley. He was a good man, and a smart one as well and she had always relied on him for advice when she was stuck with a problem she couldn't solve.  
  
"You mean to tell us that you have sold your services to evil?" Shawn asked fiercely. "I have heard about this guy, Voldemort. I'm sure some of us here have heard the rumors and although I agree that rumors can be exaggerated, the one common point to these rumors about Voldemort is that he is evil."  
  
"Perhaps," Ralph, replied. "But he has offered us power if we ally ourselves with him. You can see that it is true by how easily we defeated you. There was no doubt that the thirteen of us would emerge the final victors of the duels. And we have not only offered our services to the Dark Lord. We have offered all your services as well. By the power and authority of the coven, we now command you to obey the Dark Lord and aid him in any way possible."

* * *

Buffy's group already knew that something was wrong even before the duels ended. Tara had scanned the thirteen who seemed to be having no problems in defeating the rest of the duelists and had discovered darkness in their auras. Communicating this to the rest of the group via their mind-to-mind link, they were not really surprised when Buffy, Faith and Angel scanned the surrounding area and sensed the presence of vampires who had arrived within the last half an hour and had hidden themselves nearby. Mentally, the three of them were kicking themselves for being too distracted with the duels to sense them before.  
  
When Laura first made her appeal, the gang was startled by her mention of Voldemort. However, the response of the coven didn't surprise them much. Obviously, this was what Voldemort had planned for the meeting and if the presence of the vampires was any indication, he intended to kill everyone who did not join him.  
  
The vampires were making themselves known now. Being creatures of the night, they managed to get close to the clearing before anyone – apart from Buffy's gang – saw them. Buffy's group of course, had spotted them ages ago. Growing up in Sunnydale had trained their eyes to look out for creatures such as vampires. Moving their hands surreptitiously towards their stakes, which they never left home without, they continued to keep an eye on the undead legion while listening to Ralph continue his speech.  
  
"As you can see, the Dark Lord has many followers," Ralph said, waving his arms to indicate the vampires. Behind the vampires, several demons could be seen. He ignored the frightened screams and the gasps that were emitted from the assembled wiccans when they discovered the vampires and demons behind them. "I've promised the Dark Lord that all the wiccans who remain alive here will serve him," he said blandly.  
  
Everyone heard the unspoken threat. That they would be killed if they did not submit. Ralph turned towards Dumbledore. "So, you're Albus Dumbledore," he said smugly. "And I suppose that group around you is your fabled Order of the Phoenix? The Dark Lord will reward us well when we bring you to him in chains." Ralph then focused his gaze on Harry, Ron and Hermoine. "And you're allowing children to join your order as well? I suppose you're short for new recruits, are you?" He smiled nastily and turned away, but at the last moment, he whipped his head back and stared at Harry. Or more accurately, stared at Harry's forehead. His eyes widened and he laughed loudly. "Oh this is just perfect. Today we capture Albus Dumbledore as well as Harry Potter. The Dark Lord will definitely place us at his right hand after this."  
  
Those in the wiccan community who have heard of Voldemort had heard about Harry Potter. After all, if they've heard of Voldemort, they would have definitely heard about how he was defeated the first time. All eyes turned towards Harry and everyone could see his face turn red.  
  
Although there were vampires behind them, Buffy's group were prepared for them and already had one hand on their weapons, unlike Dumbledore's group as well as the rest of the wiccans who were caught by surprise.  
  
As a team of vampires approached Dumbledore's group, Buffy and Willow used the mind-to-mind link to devise a plan and communicate it to the rest of their group. Dumbledore's group pulled out their wands but before they could get to use them, the vampires were already onto them and grabbed their arms. The few wiccans who tried to help were forcibly restrained by their captor vampires.  
  
At Buffy's mental command, Buffy, Anya, Angel and Faith whirled around and staked the vampires guarding them with supernatural speed. Dawn and Xander were only a moment behind them, plunging their stakes into the hearts of two very startled vampires. In the meantime, Tara dropped all her aura shields, grabbed Angel's hand and swiftly placed a protection spell on him to protect him from the effects of the spell Willow was about to cast. Willow dropped two layers of shields, letting more of her magical aura out. She took a deep breath and intoned in a clear and commanding voice.  
  
"Living and undead, SEPARATE."

* * *

Dumbledore's group was in trouble. Everyone had lost their wands, even Dumbledore. Laura did not need a wand to cast spells but she was in the grip of a vampire. Everyone was struggling but were no match for the unnatural strength of the vampires.  
  
Suddenly, a commotion from the side caught their attention – as well as the attention of everyone in the clearing. Three women and a man had turned around and with a speed that defied belief, plunged a stake into the hearts of their captors. Two other people with them staked their captors at a more normal speed. However, what mostly captured their attention was the sudden spike in the magical aura of the two wiccans with them. In an instant, the blonde and redheaded wiccans displayed a magical aura that was beyond what they had ever encountered before. Even those who had seen Dumbledore at the peak of his power before admitted that the power the two wiccans displayed was already beyond that. As they watched, the redheaded wiccan called out.  
  
"Living and undead, SEPARATE."  
  
At the word 'separate', the vampires were flung backwards away from them. Startled, they looked around and saw that they were not the only ones who were free from vampires. It appeared that every single vampire who was near a human was flung back unceremoniously. Before anyone could react to that surprising development, another voice rang out.  
  
"Sleep."  
  
It was the blonde wiccan this time. As one, the coven toppled over and some of them started snoring. "That'll keep them out of our hair for a while," the blonde wiccan muttered, her gaze returning to the vampires, who were struggling to their feet.  
  
After a moment, Dumbledore's group realized that the vampires had dropped their wands when they were flung back. Hastily they retrieved their wands and stood up. Everyone was looking at the two wiccans who were in turn, glaring at the vampires. Realizing belatedly, that the threat was not neutralized yet, everyone turned their gazes towards the vampires.

* * *

Buffy looked around. Everywhere, wiccans were regrouping towards the center of the clearing and most of them were casting fire spells at the vampires. However, the spells weren't having much effect on the vampires. Beside her, Willow yelled out, "Undead are resistant to spells. Set fire to their clothes, not the vampire themselves."  
  
Following Willow's instructions the wiccans were more successful in beating back the vampires. However, it was only a temporary reprieve. Buffy could see more vampires, as well as demons, in the background.  
  
Around her, her friends had dropped their stakes and were relying on heavier weapons. Buffy, Anya, Faith and Angel were wielding broadswords with an ease that belied the weight of the weapon. Of course, with their unnatural strength, it wasn't surprising. Xander was fighting skillfully with an axe, lopping off the heads of vampires. Dawn was holding a short sword that Willow and Tara had made specially for her. The short sword was crafted totally from the hardest wood they could find, which made it a good weapon to use against vampires, and moreover, the spells on it allowed the sword to pierce the toughest demon hide without breaking. Willow and Tara were unarmed but their hands blazed with eldritch fire. All of them were fighting hard and had accounted for many vampires and a few demons.  
  
As for Tara, she was keeping close to Angel in case one of the wiccans recognized him as a vampire and decided that he was one of the enemy. She was confident that she could probably deal with any spell a wiccan could cast. In her mind, she could hear Buffy silently thanking her.  
  
They couldn't keep on like this though, the vampires and demons had the advantage of numbers. For every vampire they dusted, two more took its place. Demons were entering the fray as well and as these demons were particularly resistant to magic, the wiccans were getting injured although no one was killed yet, thanks to the fact that everyone was clustered together and were helping one another.  
  
Buffy called everyone to a mind-to-mind conference. Discussing options while fighting off demons and vampires, they finally agreed on what to do. Forming a protective circle around Willow, they kept the demons and vampires at bay while Willow lowered another three layers of shields and prepared herself for a major spell.  
  
With Shawn's help, Laura had gathered almost everyone together at the center of the clearing. The only ones left were the group with the two exceptionally powerful wiccans. Somehow, Laura didn't think they needed much help, and if this was a fight to the end, she was almost certain that the group with the two wiccans could last longer than they themselves could, despite their superior numbers.  
  
They were taking on injuries, Laura noticed. It was a minor miracle that no one had been killed yet. Frantically, Laura racked her brain for a plan but came up empty. Even if they linked their powers, it would only provide them with a stopgap measure.  
  
Beside her, Dumbledore was also worried. All around them, everyone was conjuring fire elementals and hurling fire spells at the vampires' clothes. Fireballs, fire darts, fire arrows, and more were flying all around. Vampires themselves were immune to all but some of the strongest spells but their clothes were flammable. Only a few wiccans had enough power to set fire to a vampire directly. Out of his group, only he himself had enough power to affect a vampire directly with a spell. Not even Professor McGonagall, the most powerful witch besides himself could affect vampires directly with her magic. And even he himself could not penetrate the natural magical resistance of the demons. The only demons who were getting hurt were those who had decided to attack the group with the two wiccans. The tide of enemies seemed endless and many on their side were weakening.  
  
The sudden increase in magical energy caught their attention. Everyone's head turned towards Willow as her magical aura blazed even brighter to their magical senses. Even the demons and vampires were distracted by her aura. As everyone watched, streaks of white appeared in Willow's hair and she raised both her arms towards the sky. Some of the wiccans who had better eyesight saw that her eyes had turned white as well. Her friends were around her, protecting her from attacks. A moment later, her hair had turned completely white and it rippled, as if caressed by an invisible wind. Raising her head up, her voice rang, strong and clear.  
  
"By my power and through my will, I command you, ARISE."


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5  
  
"By my power and through my will, I command you, ARISE."  
  
Only a few words, and yet, nobody could deny that those words were filled with power. 'Even a muggle should be able to feel the power in those words,' Harry thought irrelevantly.  
  
From her words, everyone suspected that she was summoning an elemental to help. No one expected what happened next. The darkness of night receded to be replaced by the dawn of day. The collective gasps from the assembled wiccans, wizards and witches was almost enough to create a temporary vacuum around them. Everyone watched, wide eyed in disbelief, as, at three in the morning, the sun rose up from the east.

* * *

As Willow cast her spell, Tara pulled Angel to her and touched his forehead briefly. "Darken," she murmured. A black aura surrounded Angel immediately. An aura of darkness, he knew, since Willow and Tara had explained it to him when they formed the plan. The aura of darkness prevented sunlight from touching his body, thus sparing him from a fiery demise.

* * *

Everyone watched as the vampires rushed to find cover. However, the continued rising of the sun effectively penetrated any cover they could find. Before long, hundreds of vampires had turned to ashes.  
  
The demons were hesitating now. Although Voldemort had chosen these particular demons for this task due to their natural resistance to magic, no demon was brave or suicidal enough to take the risk of depending on their magical invulnerability by messing around with a magic user who had enough power to cause the sun to rise in the middle of the night. The demons, not being a particularly brave lot when confronted by a much superior power, turned and ran. Some of them who could teleport did so. A moment later, all that remained of the battle were the ashes, blood and slime. With a wave of her hands, Willow made the sun vanish, returning the area to the darkness of night. Tara also removed the aura of darkness from Angel.

* * *

The first thing everyone did after the battle was to take care of the wounded. There were only a few vials of potion left to restore magical energy and they were given to the wiccans whose magical energy was drained the most. Healing spells were needed by almost everyone. Now that the fight was over, the adrenaline rush had subsided and many of them were collapsing onto the ground and suddenly realizing how much pain they were in.  
  
Willow and Tara moved around the injured, healing them with simple charms. They had already put their shields back in place and their magical auras were now reduced to only slightly stronger than that of a powerful wiccan. However, everyone now knew who Willow was, even before she introduced herself. It was one thing to listen to rumors of a powerful wiccan, but to see the power for themselves was another thing altogether.  
  
The power that they had seen coming from Willow had silenced any doubts that the rumors of her power had been exaggerated. According to their senses, Willow's magical aura was now no longer blindingly powerful as it had been before. However, they had seen first hand, what she had accomplished.  
  
Tara, who was the more experienced healer of the two, was taking care of the most serious injuries. Willow, despite her power, was less knowledgeable when it came to conventional healing spells and was helping out with the slightly less injured. The rest of Buffy's group, having had more than enough experience dealing with injuries, went to help Willow and Tara. The more powerful and experienced wiccans also went to help them. The rest of the wiccans and Dumbledore's group were tending to the relatively minor wounds.  
  
After all the wounded were taken care of, their attention turned to the coven, who was still sleeping away blissfully.  
  
"Any suggestions on what to do with them?" Faith asked.  
  
"Well, all wiccans who have turned to the dark before have been imprisoned," Laura replied. "They are kept in an cave located on an island right in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle. Wards have been placed there a couple of millennia ago to prevent anyone from escaping."  
  
"The Bermuda Triangle!" Willow exclaimed. "Its really a prison for wiccans?"  
  
"Yup," Shawn replied cheerfully. "You didn't think we could put them in a regular prison, did you? Actually, it only looks like a cave. In reality, its actually a gateway to another dimension. We have provided crops and tools so that they can try their hand at agriculture to feed themselves."  
  
"So, how do we get there," Dawn asked impatiently.  
  
"Well, we'll have to take a plane, then rent a boat..." Larua began.  
  
"Forget that," Willow interrupted. "If you can visualize the island, I can create a portal to that place."  
  
"Oh! I know that place," Anya exclaimed happily before Laura could reply. "You can take the image from my mind."  
  
"Great," Willow said happily, linking to Anya's mind again. "I should be able to take you directly to the entrance of the cave," she announced, as she picked up the image Anya was sending her.  
  
"Wait... portal? What do you mean, portal," Another wiccan asked, confused. Judging by the expressions of the wiccans around them, he wasn't the only confused one.  
  
Willow sighed. "A portal," she explained, "is a kind of a gateway to another place. You know, step through a portal here and end up a thousand miles away."  
  
"We know that," Hermoine blurted immediately. "But isn't portal creation supposed to be impossible? I mean, I've read about it and the books say that creating that kind of portal involves folding the fabric of reality to allow two different places to exist in the same space. No one has the power to do that." Everyone nodded, including the wiccans. Apparently, wizardry and wiccan magic had some similarities after all.  
  
Willow grinned at Hermoine. She reminded Willow of herself a long time ago, when she had relied on books for information. It was only until she met Buffy that she realized that the information that books contained within their pages were not necessarily accurate. Heck, there were books that specifically stated that vampires were myths and did not exist. Since then, she had begun to question what she had read, attempting to verify the information in the books through independent study. Even her experimentation with magic was, in part, due to her eagerness to prove – or disprove – several fundamental magical laws, laws that magic users treated as gospel.  
  
"As you grow older, child, you will find that nothing is impossible," Willow said gently. "Furthermore, books do not give you all the answers. Answers have to be found on your own. If you rely too much on books, then you will never surpass the limitations that the author of the book has placed on you."  
  
Hermoine blushed. For the second time in two days, someone had criticized her learning methods. And it wasn't just anyone. It was true that Laura was a pretty impressive wiccan, but Dumbledore was even stronger. That was why Hermoine did not pay much attention to her when she had said that books could not give true answers. However, Willow was now essentially saying the same thing. And Willow wasn't just any impressive wiccan. From what Hermoine had seen, she had no doubts that Willow was the most powerful wiccan in the world. Perhaps for the first time in her life, Hermoine began to wonder if her worship of books had been misplaced. Maybe the altar that she had set up for books was a mistake. Before she could further this line of thought, Willow continued.  
  
"To answer your question, folding the fabric of reality is not the only way to create a portal. As a matter of fact, I don't like to tamper with reality if I can avoid it. What I do is to create a portal to the dimension above this one and from the next dimension, create another portal to the place we wish to go."  
  
"Huh?" was the general reply all around.  
  
Willow explained patiently. "There is a another dimension above this one – lets call it the upper dimension. Now the upper dimension is all around us. It touches every place in our dimension. That is why once we are in the upper dimension, we can take ourselves to anyplace that the upper dimension is touching, which includes anywhere in this world. Many demons use the upper dimension for their teleportation. That's how I got the idea for creating portals. With a little 'refinement' to existing portal spells, I managed to combine the two portals into one, so there's no fear that you would get lost or stuck between the portals in the upper dimension."  
  
Everyone stared at Willow in amazement. Laura understood the theory immediately but creating a portal to another dimension, although much easier that folding reality, still required an immense amount of power. In fact, she would have thought it required the full circle of thirteen – thirteen wiccans linking their powers – to create a single portal. Willow mentioned creating and manipulating portals so casually as if it wasn't any trouble at all. Well, considering that she could make the sun rise and set whenever she wanted to, it probably wasn't surprising that she could create a portal by herself, but still... She shook her head. The mere thought of such immense power was making her knees tremble.  
  
Dumbledore was equally shocked. Creating a portal was tricky business and it required a great deal of power. He would never have attempted a portal spell without the maximum number of thirteen wizards or witches to join their powers. For Willow to treat creating portals in such a blasé manner was a good indication of how much power she possessed.  
  
This was yet another similarity to wiccan magic, the number thirteen. Regardless of whether it was wiccan or wizardry, thirteen was the optimum number of magic users to join their powers. More magic users added to the mix would cause the power to be reduced instead of increased. No one had figured out why. It was just an accepted fact that thirteen was the magic number if one needed the most amount of magic power.  
  
For perhaps the only time in his life, Dumbledore felt insignificant, overshadowed by the petite girl who was decades younger than him. He got a flash of insight as to how normal wizards and witches who were looking at him must feel. It was what he was feeling now as he looked at Willow Rosenberg.  
  
Alastor Moody had focused on another part of the conversation. 'As a matter of fact, I don't like to tamper with reality if I can avoid it,' Willow had said. Did it mean that she could actually warp reality if she so chose? In his harsh voice, Moody asked Willow as much.  
  
"If I really wanted to, yeah," Willow replied, shrugging her shoulders a little. "It would take all my strength but I can do it. However, the circumstances have to be really dire for me to even consider tampering with reality. The consequences of manipulating reality can be unpredictable and far reaching and sometimes, it will put you in an even worse situation than before."  
  
Faith cut in just then. "Look. I'm sure you all have questions you want to ask, but first, why don't we send these guys away to that other dimension you've been talking about. They really spoil the view."  
  
She got no arguments there and Willow created the portal. This time, everyone was prepared for the increase in her magical aura but some of them still started when Willow dropped two layers of shields. A moment later, the wiccans stood there and looked nervously at the black hole that had suddenly appeared out of thin air.  
  
Sighing, Buffy picked up a sleeping man and slung him over her shoulder.  
  
"Oh for crying out loud. Look its perfectly safe. Watch me."  
  
With that, she confidently moved over to the portal and went through it. Faith and Angel each picked up a sleeping body and followed her. With that, the wiccans seemed to recover some of their courage and ten of them, Laura and Shawn among the ten, picked up the rest of the coven and walked through the portal.  
  
It was only a short while later when they stepped through the portal back to the clearing again. The wiccans who had followed Buffy, Faith and Angel through the portal were looking slightly dazed, as if they could not believe what had happened.  
  
Laura recognized the expressions showing on the other nine wiccans. She had no doubt that she was wearing the exact same expression on her face. It was a look of awe with a slight touch of reverence. Not that they had doubted Willow's power in the first place but it was the first time they had actually touched that power. When they were crossing through the portal, they had boosted their magical senses to high alert in order to sense the magic of the portal. What they had felt had astounded them. She was sure it was the first time any of them had felt such an incredible amount of power. Not only that, but the power was stable and perfectly controlled. Even a full circle of thirteen would have a difficult time controlling that much power even for a short while, and Willow had kept the portal up with apparent ease for the whole time that they were on the other side. Willow's focus had to be phenomenal to accomplish such a feat. Even now, Willow's face showed no sign of strain as she collapsed the portal.  
  
After Willow had taken down the portal, Buffy's group turned to face the assembled wiccans. "Well, now that that's settled, what's next on the agenda?" Buffy asked brightly.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6  
  
Everyone looked at one another at Buffy's question. Obviously, no one knew what to do next. Looking at them, Buffy rolled her eyes and muttered to herself, "Now that the emergency is over, everyone acts like an idiot." Stepping up towards Laura, she said, "Why don't we start with the introductions. I'm Buffy, the slayer"  
  
There was another startled gasp from the wiccans and Dumbledore's group, although their reactions weren't as obvious as before. They seemed to be becoming numb to shocks.  
  
"The Slayer," Remus mumbled dazedly. "I thought she was supposed to be a myth."  
  
"You and everyone else," Buffy chuckled. "Believe me, It would save me a whole lot of trouble if the slayer didn't exist. But then again, if I didn't exist, the world would have ended several times over."  
  
Snapping out of their daze, Laura and Shawn introduced themselves, Dumbledore's group and a few wiccans. In turn, Buffy introduced the rest of her friends. Willow and Tara were introduced as powerful wiccans. Xander was a non-magic person as far as the wiccans were concerned. Anya's vengeance demon status provoked a startled "WHAT!" from a few wiccans, and when they learned that a vengeance demon had married a mortal, they looked at Xander with more respect, evidently admiring his bravery – or stupidity – in agreeing to be wedded to a vengeance demon.  
  
Dawn was introduced just as Buffy's sister and not the Key. As far as Buffy and her friends were concerned, the less people who know that little tidbit of information, the better off they were. When Faith was introduced as a second slayer, there was another startled reaction from the assembled group in front of them.  
  
"I thought the legends said that there was only supposed to be one slayer," Remus said in his quiet voice. "For another slayer to be activated, the original slayer has to die."  
  
"I know," Buffy responded. "But I'm very bad with following rules that other people have set. Come to think of it, I hate rules with a passion." Buffy briefly thought of a certain Council who had planned to strip her of her powers and lock her in the same house with a drug-crazed vampire on her eighteenth birthday. Not only that, they had been willing to let Angel die, even though he could still be saved, and then still had the gall to order her around. Mentally flipping an imaginary finger towards the Council, Buffy continued.  
  
"A few years ago, I drowned. Xander brought me back using CPR. I was only dead for less than a minute but apparently, it was enough for the next slayer, Kendra, to be activated. Kendra was killed by Drusilla, a vampire seer, and thus Faith was called."  
  
Faith noticed that Buffy made no mention about her unsavory past and she was grateful for the fact. The wiccans accepted Buffy's explanation and turned towards Angel.  
  
"And this is Angel. He's a vampire, but he's on our side," Buffy finished the introductions.  
  
At the word vampire, most of the wiccans and Dumbledore's group tensed up and prepared to attack. Willow and Tara stepped up in front of Angel and fixed them with a steely glare.  
  
"STOP!" Buffy yelled at the top of her lungs. Those closest to her winced at the volume that slayer lungs could produce. "Are you deaf or something? Which part of 'he's on our side' do you not understand."  
  
"But he's a vampire," Snape said, his wand still pointing towards Angel, although he was clearly reluctant to do anything, due to the fact that two of the most powerful wiccans he had ever seen seemed to be protecting him.  
  
"Yes he is," Tara said, so annoyed that she forgot to be nervous. "But he has a soul, and that makes him different from other vampires."  
  
"How would you know that he has a soul," Snape demanded.  
  
"Because I was the one who gave it to him," Willow responded, also irritated by the response of the wiccans and Dumbledore's group. She continued in the same tone, "Besides, if he had wanted to hurt you, none of you would have stood a chance against him. Once, he was known as Angelus, the Scourge of Europe. Unlike those amateur vampires who almost managed to overrun you just now, Angel is a professional. If he had wanted you dead, you would be dead."  
  
Many of them blanched at the name, Angelus. Hermoine had turned pale for she had read about the reign of terror that Angelus had caused in one of her books. Even more than anyone here, maybe with the sole exception of Dumbledore, she knew the truth of Willow's words. Angelus was the most feared vampire in existence for a reason. His reputation rivaled and probably even surpassed Voldemort's when it came to torturing victims. However, she had also read that Angelus had vanished over a century ago and was believed to have been killed by a special task force appointed by the Ministry. Evidently, the Ministry had lied. She wasn't even particularly shocked by the fact. She was under no illusions regarding the Ministry. In fact, she was beginning to understand that books could give misinformation, especially when the Ministry was involved.  
  
When everyone had been persuaded not to kill Angel – not that they could if they wanted to, with Willow and Tara protecting him – they settled down again. Most, if not all of them were amazed at the group of individuals; each of them unique in his or her own way, and banded together, became a force to be reckoned with.  
  
"Well, I suppose we have to elect a new coven," Laura said tentatively. "We definitely need some leadership now that the previous coven have been banished. Any nominations?"  
  
Everyone looked at Willow and Tara.  
  
"What!" Willow exclaimed. "Nononono. I know what you're thinking and the answer is no. I've no intentions of becoming one of the coven." Tara nodded her agreement with Willow's view.  
  
"But the two of you are the most powerful wiccans here," Shawn protested. "If you were to become one of the coven, no one would question your qualifications."  
  
"Look Shawn," Tara interrupted before he could expound on why they should take up positions in the coven. "I admit that we may be more powerful than most of you..."  
  
In the background, someone snorted.  
  
"...but power isn't the most important factor in deciding a leader," Tara finished smoothly.  
  
"That's true," Buffy decided to put in her two cents worth. "Willow, Tara and Anya could probably kick my ass without breaking a sweat but I'm still the recognized leader of the group."  
  
"I've a suggestion," Willow added. "Why don't the previous year's coven carry on with their positions for another year? Since they already have experience working with each other, as well as knowing what's been happening in the world, I see no reason to break up such a good team."  
  
Although Willow did not know it herself, her name and deeds had circulated among the supernatural world. Her status in the world of the supernatural had become legendary when she had fought one-on-one with Glorificus. When she cast her resurrection spell, her name had gone beyond legendary status to become a godlike icon in the supernatural world.  
  
Being a modest girl, Willow did not notice the slight touch of reverence that accompanied every voice that addressed her. The way that everyone kept a respectful distance away from her also seemed to have escaped her notice. However, the fact was that her words had more authority than anyone in the supernatural world. Whatever she said was taken as gospel. Therefore, it was not surprising that her suggestion was implemented without much dissention.  
  
"I believe we were talking about Voldemort before we were ah... interrupted," Shawn said. "Since Laura was the one who brought up the topic, why don't we let her continue with her motion."  
  
"Thanks Shawn," Laura said as she stood up. "Some of you know this but for the benefit of those who don't, let me say that there is another world out there. A world of witches and wizards who use wands to cast spells and fly on broomsticks. Our world and their world usually stay clear of each other. However, certain events are threatening both our worlds and I think that it would be wise to face the problem together. My job is only to bring up the topic of Voldemort. I will let Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, to use his eloquence to persuade us to ally with him."  
  
Everyone gave Dumbledore their full attention when he stood up. "Ladies and gentlemen. As you all know, I'm Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts. However, I'm also the leader of the group against Voldemort. As Voldemort has been rising in power, we are in need of help to fight against him. The Ministry of Magic, the august body that governs the wizarding world, has refused to acknowledge the return of Voldemort for the past year. Even now, when the signs are more evident that Voldemort has returned, many people at the ministry are more interested in maintaining the status-quo instead of actively doing something to stop him. Even worse, some of the ministry members are Death Eaters as well."  
  
"Death Eaters?" someone asked.  
  
"Death Eaters are the witches and wizards who have chosen, or are forced to follow Voldemort" Dumbledore answered. "They have a mark of a coiled serpent on their left forearm. That sign is called the Dark Mark."  
  
"It looks like this," Snape interrupted, rolling up the sleeve of his shirt and showing his forearm to the assembled people.  
  
Ignoring the people who were now regarding Snape with suspicion, Dumbledore continued. "Severus has worked for Voldemort before, but he has returned to our side in the battle. His part in the battle was to spy on Voldemort. However, due to recent events, his loyalties have been made known to Voldemort and he can no longer infiltrate Voldemort's meetings."  
  
Dawn raised her hand timidly. "Umm... for those who don't know, could you possibly tell us who this Voldemort guy is and why he is so dangerous?" she asked.  
  
"Why certainly," Dumbledore responded. He then followed up with a brief history lesson about Voldemort. Interrupted by various questions, he finally managed to complete the lesson on Voldemort. What his real name is, why he hated muggles, and his plans for the world in general. Most of the wiccans winced when Dumbledore described what Voldemort did to the muggles who crossed him. All the descriptions included torture of some kind before the inevitable deaths. Then he explained how Voldemort met his demise at the hands of a baby, Harry Potter, and how he was revived, using the blood of the very same person. Dumbledore described in great detail what had happened during Harry's years at Hogwarts up to his fifth year, when his godfather, Sirus Black died.  
  
"If he is allowed to continue his reign of terror, none of our worlds are safe from him. All of us will suffer. That is why I propose an alliance between both our worlds," Dumbledore added.  
  
When he had finished, Dumbledore quietly sat down while the wiccans conferred amongst themselves. The coven arranged themselves into a circle to discuss the matter with each other while the other wiccans either participated in that discussion, or talked about it with their friends.  
  
Buffy's group was conspicuously silent as the discussions were going on, but the mental link that Willow had set up among them was very busy. All of them kept an ear attuned to the coven's discussion as well as carrying on their own conversations. However, their own conversation was not about whether or not to join the fight against Voldemort. They had already decided to fight him even before Dumbledore's appeal, regardless of the decision made by the wiccans. What they were discussing was how they could fight him. Between them, their experience with evil far outstripped that of Dumbledore's, especially with Angel and Anya in the group. The conclusions they had come up with were not encouraging.  
  
Finally, Laura stood up and addressed Dumbledore. "We have decided to assist you in you fight," she began. There was an audible sigh of relief from Dumbledore's group when she said that. "It is true that if left alone, both our worlds will suffer and it makes more sense to fight alongside each other rather than trip over each other's feet if we were to launch separate campaigns against him." She looked around her. "I hope that every one here will agree with our decision."  
  
She was met with nods and looks of agreement. The more intelligent wiccans had come to that conclusion themselves. Voldemort would not turn a blind eye towards them even if they kept out of his way. In fact, if they did not band together, Voldemort would find it easier to kill them off one by one. That dire thought was communicated to the rest of the wiccans and none of them wanted it to become a reality. The logical choice was to join their forces in order to fight.  
  
Laura continued. "Shawn and I will be the ones acting as the liaisons between Dumbledore and the wiccans. If anything comes up, we'll inform the rest of the coven who will then inform you all."  
  
There was a murmur of agreement from the wiccans. As they were still contemplating the oncoming fight, a silver of light broke through the darkness of night. Willow turned to Angel and recast the aura of darkness on him. Everyone watched, mesmerized, as the sun rose up, signaling the approach of dawn. It had been a long night and the events were catching up to them. As the sun continued to rise, everyone made preparations to leave. 


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7  
  
Most of the people were making preparations to go back home. The more powerful wiccans simply flew back. As far as Dumbledore could see, their method of flying was similar to apparation in the wizarding world. They disassembled their body components to individual molecules and then sent those components flying at high speed to wherever they wished to go. When they reached their destination, they would reassemble the molecules to form back their bodies.  
  
Wiccans who did not possess so much power were using more mundane ways to travel. Several cars and motorcycles were seen scattered around the clearing. There were even two buses to convey the wiccans to and fro from LA.  
  
Buffy's group approached Dumbledore's group. Laura and Shawn were talking to Dumbledore and Arthur Weasley, but they stopped their conversations as Buffy's group approached.  
  
"We have to talk," Buffy told Dumbledore bluntly.  
  
"Indeed, Miss Summers," Dumbledore replied pleasantly. "I assume you would like our conversation to be a little more private?"  
  
Buffy nodded.  
  
"Well then," Dumbledore continued, producing a towel from somewhere within his robes. "If you would just take hold of this portkey, it will transport you to a place called Hogsmead. From there, its only a short distance to Hogwarts and I can guarantee that no one will eavesdrop on us when we are in my study."  
  
Buffy's group eyed the towel doubtfully but nonetheless, they held on to it. A moment later, there was a tug on their navel and they were sprawled on the ground. Buffy, Angel and Faith rolled with the momentum and came out of their sprawl in a defensive crouch. The rest of the group were less graceful, although just as quick, in getting up. Years spent in Sunnydale taught them that lying on the ground was a good and fast way of getting killed.  
  
Dumbledore's group had experience with portkeys but even they stumbled a bit when they landed. Harry, Ron and Hermoine fell ungracefully to the ground. Laura and Shawn were also experiencing portkeys for the first time and none of them managed to keep their balance.  
  
"Okay, I'm never taking one of those rides again," Dawn grumbled.  
  
"Once is more than enough," Willow agreed. "I think I prefer to go by portal."  
  
"Portals are much less painful," Xander threw in his vote.  
  
"I'm going to have to agree on that point," Shawn mumbled, still a little dizzy.  
  
Everyone got to their feet, some of them still grumbling, and looked around. They were in Hogsmead. Not so far away, they could see a majestic castle, its towers reaching towards the sky. Nearby, were some carriages.  
  
"Whoa, what are those," Dawn exclaimed when she saw the bat winged horses in front of the carriages.  
  
"Thestrals," Anya replied absently, still absorbed with the important task of brushing the dirt off her clothes.  
  
"What are you talking about," Laura asked, a little puzzled. "What are thestrals?"  
  
"Those bat winged horses who are pulling the carriages," Remus supplied helpfully. He then continued a little sadly. "Only those who have seen death can actually see the thestrals."  
  
"No wonder we can see them so clearly," Dawn muttered, still a little unnerved at the sight of the thestrals.  
  
"Yeah. With all the death we've seen..." Xander added, also a little wary.  
  
Some eyebrows were raised at those cryptic remarks but nobody said anything. They got into the carriages. Xander, Anya, Dawn and Faith shared a carriage. They let Buffy and Angel share a carriage by themselves. Willow and Tara shared a carriage with Professors McGonagall and Flitwick. Laura and Shawn shared one with Dumbledore and Snape. Harry, Ron and Hermoine shared a carriage together. Moody, Arthur Weasley and Remus also found themselves in a carriage. Soon, all of them were heading off towards Hogwarts.

* * *

"So, I believe you wish to talk," Dumbledore addressed Buffy's group. They were all seated in comfortable chairs in Dumbledore's study. They were joined by Nymphadora Tonks and Kingsley Shacklebolt who were waiting for them. After the initial introductions, they had gone to Dumbledore's study to talk.  
  
Buffy nodded. "Yes we do. But what we have to say is going to take a long time, and judging from your expressions, I'm sure you guys have a lot of questions you're just dying to ask. So, before anyone chokes to death from holding those questions in, why don't we give you the chance to ask any questions you may have."  
  
Harry burst in first. "Did you really manage to cast a resurrection spell?"  
  
Tonks and Shacklebolt raised their eyebrows. 'Resurrection?' they thought disbelievingly.  
  
Harry's question was addressed to Willow. A flash of pain briefly appeared in her eyes before she nodded. "Yes, I did," she said softly. Beside her, Tara reached out and clasped Willow's hand. From the other side, Buffy did the same. Willow gave both of them a grateful smile.  
  
Harry did not notice that. He was overcome with excitement as he asked his next question. "Can you resurrect my parents?"  
  
There was a sudden intake of breath from almost everyone in the room at that question. All eyes turned towards Willow as she fixed a level gaze on Harry.  
  
"No," she replied firmly.  
  
"But why," Harry almost begged. "You did it once before. You can do it again."  
  
"I can cast a resurrection spell, but I won't," Willow said sadly. "Back then, I was young, foolish and arrogant. I was too full of myself and my power. And I cast the resurrection spell without knowing the full consequences of what I was doing."  
  
Before Harry could speak up, Buffy interrupted, "I was the one whom she resurrected." Everyone turned towards Buffy but she continued to look squarely at Harry. "I was in heaven, you know," she smiled at the thought. "When I was dead, I was in heaven. It was paradise. There, I was happy. Contented. When Willow brought me back, I was ripped out of that perfect existence and brought back to this world. It took me almost a year before I pulled out of my depression and started to adjust to this world again. And even though I've adjusted, a part of me will always remember the perfection of heaven and long for it. From what Dumbledore has told us about your parents, when they were killed by Voldemort, I've no doubt that they've gone to heaven. Do you really want to put your parents through all that?"  
  
Harry's shoulders slumped. Everyone looked at him with various expressions of pity. "I don't suppose I can convince you to resurrect my godfather too, huh," he mumbled.  
  
"I'm sorry, Harry but the answer's no. But I can do a blessing for him to help smoothen his path to the afterlife. Can you show us where he's buried?" Willow asked gently.  
  
"There's no body left to bury," Harry replied in a soft voice. "He was fighting Lestrange and he got his by a spell. He fell into an archway through a black veil and disappeared."  
  
There was a moment of silence. "And then?" Willow prompted gently. "How did he die?"  
  
"He fell through the veil and disappeared," Harry repeated monotonously.  
  
Buffy's group exchanged puzzled looks. "How do you know he's dead?" Buffy asked carefully.  
  
"He fell through the veil," Arthur Weasley answered for Harry. "From what I've heard from the Department of Mysteries, anything or anyone who goes through the veil is never heard of again."  
  
"So they say, but if you've never seen the body, then he could still be alive," Tara said, speaking up for the first time.  
  
"And besides, why do you think that falling into a portal automatically means that he's dead?" Dawn asked.  
  
"Even if that were true, there's no way of getting him back," Remus said sadly.  
  
"Why not?" Willow asked.  
  
"Because nobody can do it, that's why," Snape said irritably.  
  
Willow frowned. "Harry, do you mind explaining what exactly happened during your fight back there? Don't leave anything out, no matter how unimportant it may seem."  
  
Initially, Harry was upset when they were discussing the incident. But as the conversation continued, he picked up on the point that Buffy's group brought up. There was a possibility that Sirius was still alive. A small possibility perhaps, but still, he would take what he could get. When Willow asked him to describe the fight, he was more than willing to do so.  
  
After Harry's description of the fight, Willow turned to Tara. "Definitely a type of portal," she affirmed.  
  
"Its most likely to be a one-way portal," Tara agreed. "But where does it lead to?"  
  
Harry couldn't stand it any longer. "Does that mean you can bring Sirius back if he's alive?"  
  
"We'll have to examine the portal," Willow told Harry. "Then, we'll tell you if its possible."  
  
Harry turned to Dumbledore. "Could you arrange it Professor?" he asked eagerly.  
  
Dumbledore frowned. "I believe so," he said slowly. Then he shook his head. "I can't believe I missed that. I've been thinking that 'anything that goes through the veil is lost to us for good' for so long that I couldn't see the other possibilities."  
  
"You're not the only one," Shacklebolt said, a little embarrassed. "The ministry has issued that particular statement over a century ago and since no one over there can prove otherwise, we've all been thinking of that as a fact."  
  
"You guys need to do something about this over dependence on the ministry for information," Faith said bluntly.  
  
"I see that," Professor McGonagall said, not very happy about being hoodwinked by the ministry.  
  
"Well, since that we're now hooked on the topic, we might as well go and check out this portal and see if we can get Sirius back," Laura suggested. "I don't think anyone can think of anything else until this has been settled in one way or another."  
  
"Well, I can file an application to visit that place," Arthur Weasley said slowly. "If I push it, I can get approval in a day or two."  
  
"Bureaucratic red tape," Faith said scornfully. "You guys really need to stop looking to the ministry for answers. In any case, this is an emergency, and in an emergency, all sorts of rules get broken, or at least suspended." She smiled a little at the thought of breaking rules. "Willow here can create a portal directly to wherever that archway is and cut through a day of paperwork."  
  
Willow nodded. "I'll have to scan Harry's mind to find the location, though," she said. "Do I have your permission to scan your mind, Harry?"  
  
Harry nodded eagerly. Anything he could do to help get his godfather back, he would do it. He kept the image of the room containing the stone archway firmly in his mind as Willow turned her eyes on him and her face took on an expression of concentration.  
  
A moment later, she nodded. "I've got it," she announced. Harry was surprised. He hadn't even felt Willow in his mind. Ever since he took lessons in occlumency, he was able to detect a foreign presence in his mind, even if he was unable to fight it off successfully. Then again, Willow was no ordinary person, he reflected. No matter who or what she was, he decided that if she could restore his godfather to him, he would gladly worship her until the day he died.  
  
As Willow prepared to open the portal, Dumbledore raised his hand, stopping her. "Miss Rosenberg, Hogwarts is protected by wards which do not allow apparation or any form of teleportation for that matter. The ministry is also protected by wards. Are you sure you can open a portal under the circumstances?" he asked.  
  
During the ride to Hogwarts, Willow and Tara had questioned Professors McGonagall and Flitwick about magic in the wizarding world and they knew what apparation meant. Quickly, Tara used the mind link between them to explain to the rest of their group while Willow replied to Dumbledore's question.  
  
"I don't think its going to be a problem," Willow said confidently. "Portals do not work in the same way as apparation and besides, if the wards interfere with the spell, I can go around them."  
  
Had it been anyone else, Dumbledore would have insisted, but knowing of Willow's power, he decided to keep his opinions to himself. The wards around Hogwarts were placed by four of the most powerful wizards and witches the wizarding world had ever known, but if anyone could circumvent them, it would be Willow, who was a legend in her own right. And if she could go around these wards, the wards at the ministry would be a piece of cake.  
  
To those who had witnessed Willow's power before, it was no surprise to them that Willow managed to open the portal despite the presence of the wards. Tonks and Shacklebolt were stunned but Remus and Arthur quickly pulled them along towards the portal. When they emerged from the portal to the other side, they could see the archway in front of them.  
  
Willow, Tara and Anya walked around the portal, examining it with their magical senses. They conferred mind-to-mind about what they had discovered and found out that their conclusions were similar.  
  
The rest of the people were exploring the adjourning rooms. Suddenly, Willow and Tara snapped their heads up and looked at one another. Raising her voice, Willow called out, "Hey, everyone get back here right now!"  
  
The note of urgency in her voice sent everyone scurrying back to her.  
  
"What's up?" Xander asked.  
  
"Someone's activated an alarm," Tara informed them.  
  
Willow was a bit more direct. "Which one of you touched something he or she wasn't supposed to?" she asked pointedly.  
  
The guilty looks all of them sported answered her question. Just about everyone had not managed to keep their curiosity in check. Now they could hear the sound of footsteps towards the room they were in. A moment later, the door to the room burst open and a team of witches and wizards entered.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8  
  
Every single person that came into the room had his or her wand pointed at the intruders. Dumbledore's group immediately identified them as aurors. Buffy and her friends, trained by many years on the hellmouth, instantly dropped into a defensive crouch and moved to strategic positions where they could leap into action at a moments notice. Because of that, more wands were pointed towards them than at Dumbledore's group. Willow and Tara looked at ease but both of them were ready to take down their aura dampening shields and start flinging spells around.  
  
Dumbledore strode forward and held up his hand. "Wait," he shouted.  
  
"Dumbledore?" one of the aurors said, surprised. "What are you doing here."  
  
"Hello Thompson," Dumbledore identified the auror. "We just wanted to examine this particular artifact that apparently claimed Sirus's life."  
  
Before Thompson could reply, another voice was heard from the doorway.  
  
"Dumbledore," screeched Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic. "What are you doing here, trespassing in the inner sanctum of the Department of Mysteries!"  
  
"Cornelius," Dumbledore greeted the minister. "We merely wanted to examine this artifact here in the hopes that we might be able to bring Sirus back to us."  
  
'So that's Cornelius Fudge,' thought the Scooby Gang.  
  
"Impossible," Fudge protested. "We witnessed him falling through the veil. There's no way he could be alive."  
  
"Indeed," a voice behind Fudge said silkily. Dumbledore's group tensed noticeably as Lucius Malfoy strode into the room. Evidently, Fudge had believed Malfoy's protestations of innocence despite the testimony of Dumbledore. "Even so, you could have arranged it with us to bring you here, instead of breaking in. You broke in once before but since it was to save your students, the ministry did not want to press charges. But this time, there was no such emergency, isn't there." Malfoy smiled nastily as he tried to get Dumbledore and his group into trouble.  
  
"But it is an emergency," Willow burst out. All eyes turned towards her and she blushed, but still continued bravely. "Sirus may still be alive but every moment spent in wherever he is at the moment is another moment that he's in danger. If we had to go through you, we'd have needed a day or more to even see this place and that day may mean the difference between life and death for Mr Black."  
  
"Interesting assumption, child," Malfoy said in a dismissive tone, but his eyes were cold as he fixed Willow with a hard stare. However, if he was hoping that Willow would be intimidated, he was disappointed. After facing off against a hell goddess, there wasn't a lot of things that could intimidate Willow as well as the rest of the Scoobies.  
  
Anya spoke up helpfully. "Actually, the difference between life and death doesn't require a day. It only requires a second for someone to go from being alive to being dead."  
  
"Then we're wasting time," Buffy said decisively. "Wills, what have you found out?"  
  
"Well, from the energy patterns of the portal, it's definitely a one-way portal and it definitely leads to another dimension. Since I've identified the energy pattern, I can be reasonably sure I can find the dimension he's in," Willow responded. "If I use that energy pattern with a viewing spell and combine it with a scrying spell, I can not only find out if he's alive, but where he is if he's not dead."  
  
"Portal?" Fudge asked. He was ignored by everybody who was concentrating on what Willow had said.  
  
"Then do it," Buffy said.  
  
"You realize, of course, that what you're proposing is ludicrous," Malfoy said with a chilling smile. "Viewing spells in other dimensions take up much more power than even what a group of thirteen can handle. If you wish to combine it with a scrying spell, there's no hope you'll succeed."  
  
The Scooby Gang as well as Dumbledore's group worked mightily to hide their smirks. Willow turned towards the portal, confident that her friends would watch her back. The Scooby Gang moved closer to Willow, ready to protect her from anything the aurors might try.  
  
The aurors gasped as Willow lowered two layers of her personal shields. Her magical aura blazed clearly to those who had even the tiniest bit of magic in them. The Scoobies and Dumbledore's group fought down a smile as they observed Malfoy's face turn pale. As an added bonus, Fudge was doing a reasonable imitation of a goldfish.  
  
A moment later, the air in front of Willow rippled, and then, a vision of a forest appeared in front of her.  
  
"This is where the portal leads to," Willow told the rest. Turning to Harry, she said, "I'm going to need something of your godfather's to do the scrying."  
  
Searching his pockets frantically, Harry came up with the Marauder's Map. "Four people made this," he said. "My godfather was one of them."  
  
Taking the map, Willow briefly used her magical senses to touch it. "Yes," she said quietly. "I can sense four different magical signatures." Suddenly, she looked at Remus. "One of the signatures belong to you."  
  
Remus nodded. "I was one of the four who created the map," he said in his quiet voice.  
  
"Then that leaves me with three magical signatures to scry for," Willow said. "Unless you can tell me which signature belongs to Mr Black?"  
  
Remus shook his head regretfully. "I'm sorry, Miss Rosenberg. But I've no idea how to sense magical signatures, let alone identify them."  
  
Willow nodded and turned back to the task at hand. Taking a deep breath, she picked one of the signatures at random and scried for it in the other dimension.  
  
"No, nothing," Willow murmured after a while. "Let's try the second one."  
  
Malfoy suddenly broke in. "This is ridiculous," he exclaimed. "She's obviously faking it." He turned to the aurors. "Arrest them," he roared.  
  
Before his comment could register, he was already pointing his wand towards Willow. "STUPIFY," he yelled.  
  
A bolt of light shot out from his wand and headed towards Willow – only to impact harmlessly off a shield Tara had raised. Before Malfoy could try anything else, Buffy, Faith and Angel were already running towards him with supernatural speed. They reached him at the same time and there was a quick movement with three broadswords.  
  
Malfoy screamed as blood spurted out from the stump that had once been his shoulder. Buffy's weapon had gone for Malfoy's wrist, intending to separate the hand holding the wand with the rest of Malfoy's body. Faith and Angel had the same idea but Faith had gone for the elbow and Angel had aimed for the shoulder. As a result, Malfoy's arm now lay in three separate pieces on the ground and Malfoy himself was reeling back in pain. Still moving as one, Buffy, Faith and Angel stabbed at Malfoy's wand simultaneously. The heavy broadsword was not made for stabbing but slayer and vampiric strength compensated for that. The three broadswords hit the target and broke the wand into four pieces. Since the wand was still in the grip of Malfoy's decapitated hand, however, the blades sheared through the flesh to hit the wand. The result was that Malfoy's hand was now a mangled mess.  
  
Unfazed by the carnage occurring behind her, Willow continued her scrying. "Nope, nothing on this signature too," she mumbled. "Well, one more to try."  
  
Meanwhile, the aurors had recovered from their shock and had pointed their wands at Buffy, Faith and Angel. Before they could do anything, though, a voice was heard.  
  
"Thicken."  
  
It was Tara. Before the aurors knew what had happened, they found themselves unable to move. The texture of the air around them had turned into something resembling tar. Only it was much thicker than what tar ought to be like. They struggled mightily but Tara's power was far greater than theirs, especially now since she had dropped her shields. Pausing a moment to observe Malfoy and Fudge, who were also frozen, Buffy, Faith and Angel sauntered back towards the group, still clustered around Willow.  
  
"Nice work Tara," Buffy congratulated.  
  
Tara responded with a shy smile. Suddenly, Willow shouted. "I've got it."  
  
All attention returned to Willow at once. They saw her focus her gaze at the picture in front of her and the picture blurred, before being replaced with another scene. This time, the picture showed a man with a thin, haunted face.  
  
"Sirus," Harry and Remus exclaimed.  
  
With a wave of her hand, Willow altered her viewing spell to enable them to see the area around Sirus. The first thing that caught their attention was that Sirus was in a cage. The second thing that caught their attention was that he was being lowered into a big cauldron, cage and all. The third thing that they saw were the demons surrounding him. The demons looked vaguely like a troll with red scales that covered their body. All of them were looking at Sirus and licking their lips.  
  
"Oh no," Hermoine gasped. "They're going to eat him."  
  
"Not if I can help it," Willow said determinedly. She began creating a portal to the place that her viewing spell showed. The Scooby Gang, having worked with her for so long, knew what she was going to do. Once the portal was ready, Buffy, Xander, Anya and Dawn leaped into it, followed closely by Faith and Angel. Harry was about to join them but before he could do so, Tara had already caught his arm.  
  
"Let me go," Harry shouted. "I've got to help him."  
  
"Buffy's taking care of that," Tara said gently. "We'll get him back, don't worry."  
  
"But I've got to go," Harry protested. "He's my godfather."  
  
"If you go, you'll only hinder Buffy," Willow said. "She'll have to protect you all the time. This way, she can focus all her attention to rescuing your godfather."  
  
"I don't need to be protected," Harry said indignantly.  
  
"As I recall, you weren't doing so well against the vampires back at the wiccan meeting," Willow said pointedly. "And these demons seem to be way more dangerous than amateur vampires."  
  
Harry subsided sulkily and moved to watch the battle, courtesy of the viewing spell. It was like watching television, he realized suddenly. He had to admit that Buffy and her group were doing well in the battle. The portal had opened up in the middle of the demon group and the demons had been taken by surprise when Buffy and her friends had come charging out of the portal.  
  
One of the demons had gone too near the portal which Willow had left open. An accidental push by a fellow demon caused him to stumble through. Dumbledore immediately had his wand out and cast a stunning spell. To his surprise, his spell only staggered the demon a little before he stood up again. 'Another demon species with natural magic resistance,' everyone thought at once.  
  
A moment later, every single person in Dumbledore's group had their wands out and pointed towards the demon. Laura and Shawn did not have wands but they gathered their magical powers just the same. The flurry of stunning spells that followed caused the demon to stumble back through the portal and crash into another demon, before being decapitated by Faith.  
  
Willow looked at Dumbledore's group in amusement. All of them were panting with the exertion of putting most of their power into their stunning spells. "If it took all of you to merely cause a single demon to take a few steps back, none of you would last ten seconds in an actual battle," she observed. "I take it that most, if not all of you have no knowledge of the more physical aspects of fighting?"  
  
The sheepish looks that Dumbledore's group gave her was enough of a answer.  
  
"Don't rely on your magic too much," Willow advised. "Not everything can be solved by casting spells."  
  
Everyone returned their attention to the battle. Another demon managed to drop through the portal but this time, Tara simply took out a long dagger from within her clothes and moved towards it. She easily avoided its attacks and when she saw an opening, she struck quickly and plunged the dagger into its left eye. The demon reeled back and went through the portal again before ending up in its home dimension, dead.  
  
Everyone was staring in amazement at the unassuming blonde wiccan. Tara shrugged her shoulders and said, "Before I knew Willow and her friends, I didn't know anything about self-defense. Buffy trained me to be able to take care of myself, even without using magic."  
  
"Buffy trained all of us in fighting," Willow interjected. "She wouldn't let us patrol the town with her until we got at least some knowledge of how to conduct ourselves in a fight. She wanted us to have at least a chance to stay alive if our magic wasn't powerful enough to defeat our enemy."  
  
From the expressions on everyone's faces, it was clear that they thought that her magic not being powerful enough against any opponent was an almost impossible occurrence. 'Well, they've never met Glory,' Willow thought reflectively, even though she was only beginning to realize her powers at the time that Glory appeared. Her powers had grown tremendously since then.  
  
The battle was almost over. The demons that remained alive were running away. Buffy freed Sirus from the cage. Initially, Sirus was wary of them but the fact that they saved him from being eaten made him willing to trust them for now. With only a brief moment of hesitation, he followed them through the portal. 


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9  
  
As soon as Sirius appeared on the other side of the portal, he was hit by a speeding bullet in the form of a boy.  
  
"Sirius, you're back," Harry cried happily, hugging him tightly.  
  
Staggering back a little from the impact, Sirius wrapped his arms around Harry. "Its good to be back," he said huskily.  
  
They were interrupted by Faith who almost bumped into Sirius when she stepped out of the portal. "Do you mind," she said acidly, but with a twinkle in her eye. "You're blocking the portal."  
  
Blushing, Sirius and Harry removed themselves from the immediate vicinity of the portal where Sirius was greeted enthusiastically by the rest of Dumbledore's group. After the last person had come back through the portal, Willow closed it immediately. The Scooby Gang then turned towards Dumbledore's group who were clustered around Sirius.  
  
A moment later, when it was clear that the group around Sirius had no intention of leaving him, Buffy clapped her hands to get their attention and spoke up. "Hey guys. I'm sorry to interrupt your reunion and all, but don't you think it'll be better to have the reunion somewhere other than here?"  
  
At Buffy's statement, Sirius seemed to notice his surroundings for the first time. If he was unsettled at seeing the place where he supposedly died, he gave no indication of it. Looking at the frozen aurors as well as Malfoy and Fudge, he asked curiously, "What happened to them?"  
  
"They were interrupting a delicate spell so Tara froze them," Willow said, indicating her girlfriend.  
  
Sirius's eyebrows rose. "You must be a powerful witch in order to be able to do that," he addressed Tara.  
  
"Technically, she's a wicca," Harry told his godfather helpfully.  
  
"Hey," Buffy interrupted again. "Maybe we could continue this when we're back at the school?"  
  
"Why certainly, Miss Summers," Dumbledore said genially. "If Miss Rosenberg would be so kind..."  
  
Willow had already begun creating the portal. Sirius's eyebrows rose again at the display of power but he said nothing. A moment later, the portal was in place and everyone began stepping through. Tara was the last one through apart from Willow. Before, Tara went through though, she released everyone from their frozen state. Fudge, Malfoy and the aurors suddenly regained their freedom of movement, but before they could do anything, Tara and Willow had already stepped through the portal and Willow collapsed it.  
  
Back in Dumbledore's study, there was a moment of confusion when everyone started talking at once. That was quickly settled when Faith got impatient and yelled "SHUT UP" at the top of her slayer enhanced lungs. The Scooby Gang exchanged amused grins. Faith had changed for the better but she was still the impatient girl everyone knew.  
  
Taking advantage of the silence that had occurred after Faith's outburst, Dumbledore swiftly gave Sirius a brief update on the events that had occurred after he was gone. Sirius was very profuse with his thanks to the Scooby Gang when he found out that it was they who had figured out that he could still be alive and had come up with a way to get him back.  
  
Sirius then told the rest what happened to him after he fell into the portal. It appeared that he had been wounded by Lestrange even before he fell through the portal. However, he kept his wits around him and managed to find a place to hide and recover. Transfiguring things into food and water solved the problem of hunger and thirst. He had just recovered fully a day ago and had gone out to explore the area when he was captured by the demons.  
  
They tried discussing the problem of Voldemort next, but it was obvious that Voldemort was now the farthest thing from their minds. In their minds, the reappearance of Sirius in their midst took precedence. Finally, it was Faith who announced in her typically straightforward way that nothing was being done and suggested that they continue this conversation tomorrow when everyone has a chance to take in the fact that Sirius is really back.  
  
That particular suggestion was agreed upon with remarkable speed. Sirius was quickly ushered away by Harry, Ron, Hermoine and Remus while Tonks, Shacklebolt, Arthur Weasley and Moody rushed to inform the rest of the Order about the latest developments that had occurred. As a result, about an hour later, Hogwarts was suddenly awash with a sea of visitors who wanted a glimpse of Sirius to convince themselves that they had not been taken for a ride.  
  
The Scooby Gang were invited to stay at Hogwarts for the time being. Since Sunnydale had been uncharacteristically quiet for the past couple of weeks, they accepted the invitation. Willow and Tara entrenched themselves in the library once they had discovered it while the rest of the gang continued to explore Hogwarts. Willow had not removed the aura of darkness from Angel so he could go out into the sun if he liked. However, he was careful not to stray too far away from a convenient doorway in case the spell failed for some reason.  
  
It was just before lunchtime when Fudge came to Hogwarts. Over a hundred aurors were with him as he marched towards the gates that permitted entrance to the school. Lucius Malfoy, however, was conspicuously absent from the group of people.  
  
Dumbledore, though, had received notice of this through his contacts at the ministry and was not unprepared when Fudge marched into the great hall with the aurors right behind him. Standing beside Dumbledore was the entire Scooby Gang as well as all the professors. Harry, Ron, Hermoine and Sirius were there as well.  
  
"Arrest them," Fudge roared, indicating Buffy, Faith and Angel.  
  
The three of them tensed for battle. Around them, the Scooby Gang prepared to support them if it really came down to a fight. However, before anyone could move, Dumbledore had already stepped forward.  
  
"Stop," Dumbledore commanded, raising his hand in a stopping gesture. His presence evidently had some weight with the aurors as they stopped and looked nervously at each other. Fudge had picked these hundred aurors because of their personal loyalty to him but even their loyalty had limits. Being confronted by probably the most influential person in the wizarding world reached that limit.  
  
Fudge, though, was seething with anger. "What are you imbeciles waiting for," he shouted. "Get them."  
  
"On what charge, Cornelius?" Dumbledore asked politely.  
  
"For injuring a high ranking member of the ministry by the name of Lucius Malfoy," Fudge replied.  
  
Harry snorted. "That slimy bastard was trying to hurt Willow," he shouted angrily.  
  
"Mr Malfoy was attacked without provocation," Fudge insisted hotly. "He was merely trying to stop the young lady from making a terrible mistake."  
  
"And what mistake might that be?" Willow asked, her voice lowering dangerously. Those who knew Willow knew that tone of her voice. She seldom used it but when she did, mountains moved, oceans parted and those who knew her would go out of their way to make her happy until she was safely satisfied. Even those who did not know her could feel the ire she was exuding and took great pains to ensure that they stayed out of her way.  
  
Fudge, however, knew nothing of this. He also didn't seem to know that Willow hated making mistakes. She prided herself at being the best at what she did, which meant that mistakes did not enter her scheme of things. Even the implication that she had made a mistake set her blood boiling.  
  
"You're under the impression that you're powerful enough to create portals by yourself," Fudge said coolly, evidently not noticing Willow's tone of voice or choosing to ignore it. "You're evidently suffering from delusions of some sort. I will have you admitted to St Mungos after I've taken care of the three who had injured Mr Malfoy."  
  
"How can you say that," Dumbledore said, aghast at the claim. "Besides us, there's a team of aurors in the same room when Willow cast her spell. Also, doesn't the fact that Sirius is back with us sufficient proof of her power?"  
  
"I don't know what he is but he's not Sirius Black," Fudge cried angrily. "It must be an illusion of some sort or an imposter that someone has set up in order to fool all of you."  
  
"Remember that there's a team of aurors that can, and probably will refute your claim, should you decide to take it to court, Cornelius," Dumbledore warned.  
  
"Then, they'll never testify," Fudge roared, his face turning red. "I'll make sure of it, even if I have to kill each and every one of them myself."  
  
There was silence after Fudge's statement. Dumbledore nodded sadly. "I was afraid of that," he admitted. Then, he raised his voice, "Miss Falore, did you get that?" he asked.  
  
"Yes," a voice was heard from a corner of the room. As everyone turned towards the source of the voice, three figures suddenly appeared. Apparently, Laura and Shawn were using an invisibility spell to hide another woman. With blonde hair and remarkably piercing bright blue eyes that seemed to be able to see into your very soul, she had a way of capturing everyone's attention.  
  
"May I introduce Miss Rina Falore," Dumbledore said happily. "She's a reporter for the Daily Prophet," he continued, his voice remarkably bright.  
  
"That I am," Rina said, her voice strong and vibrant. "And I'm sure that the wizarding world would be very interested to know what happened here, as well as Minister Fudge's proclaimation."  
  
All those standing on Dumbledore's side smiled. They had been surprised when Dumbledore had called them all to the great hall. They were even more surprised when they saw the blonde woman with him and that he instructed Laura and Shawn to hide her in a corner with an invisibility spell. However, they trusted him and Rina was safely hidden only seconds before Fudge had barged into the great hall.  
  
Fudge himself was shocked speechless. He had not expected this level of deviousness from Dumbledore. Desperately, he racked his brain for some way to salvage this but came up empty. If Rina Falore managed to get her article to the Daily Prophet and publish it, his career would be damaged beyond any hope of recovery. In a moment of panic, he made a decision that he would regret for the rest of his life.  
  
Pointing at Dumbledore, Fudge bellowed to the aurors, "Kill them! Kill them all!"  
  
Time stood still for a moment when Fudge uttered his command. Then, as one, the aurors raised their wands and leveled them at Dumbledore and the rest of his group. The professors, Harry, Ron, Hermoine, Sirius, Laura, Shawn, Rina and even Dumbledore himself were shocked. Not even Dumbledore had known that Fudge would have reacted this way. Despite Fudge's incompetence, he was still the highest-ranking minister in the Ministry and as such, was expected to act with the decorum as befitting his station.  
  
The Scooby Gang, though, were under no such illusions. They had learned from experience that anything could happen. When they saw wands being pointed at their directions, hellmouth-trained reflexes kicked in and they leapt into action.  
  
Buffy, Faith and Angel were the quickest to react. Buffy charged forward, surprising the aurors who had expected everyone to be cowed by the sheer magnitude of their power. To the Scooby Gang who had faced apocalypses before, they were not impressed. Buffy reached the auror who was closest to her and felled him with a quick punch to the face.  
  
Before the other aurors could react, Faith and Angel were attacking their left and right flanks respectively. All three of them dived into the midst of the aurors and started laying around them with their fists. In such cramped conditions, the aurors could not cast stunning spells effectively as they were hampered in their efforts by their own people. Besides, they had to speak out to cast any spells, and this gave Buffy, Angel and Faith, who were used to having only split second warning before someone tried to kill them, plenty of time to either take out the spell caster or simply dodge the spell.  
  
Tara and Willow had taken on the task of protecting the rest of the group from any stray spells that happened to be directed at Dumbledore's group. Dawn, Xander and Anya stood in front of Dumbledore's group to ward off any physical attacks that seemed to be heading their way. However, those attacks were few and far between, as all the aurors were concentrating their efforts on Buffy, Angel and Faith.  
  
Aurors were given some physical training as well as being trained in offensive and defensive spells. However, that training proved to be useless against people who went up against vampires on a regular basis. Since their magical capabilities were hampered as well, they had no real defenses against the two slayers and the vampire with a soul.  
  
As more and more aurors fell though, it became less crowded and it was becoming easier to aim spells at Buffy, Angel and Faith. It was then that Dumbledore's group stepped in, casting stunning spells at the aurors. The aurors themselves had been focusing so much on killing the three fighters that they had forgotten that there were other people present. They were totally unprepared for the stunning spells that hit them from behind. It was only a matter of minutes before all the aurors were stunned, either by a spell, or by more physical means. In the midst of all the confusion, it was suddenly noticed that Fudge was nowhere to be seen. 


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10  
  
"Where did that pompous ass with the bowler hat go?" Faith demanded angrily. The look in her eyes promised a number of painful experiences for Fudge when she got her hands on him.  
  
"He must have snuck out sometime during the fight," Professor McGonagall replied.  
  
"Don't worry," Rina Falore chipped in. "Once I publish my article tomorrow, there won't be anyone in the world who doesn't think he's a totally incompetent minister – not to mention corrupt as well."  
  
"You don't write like that Skeeter woman, do you?" Hermoine asked suspiciously.  
  
Rina snorted. "Rita Skeeter is a disgrace to the world of free press," she said vehemently. "The press is supposed to distribute information to the public and allow them to make their own conclusions, not make information up as well as influence their thinking."  
  
Harry nodded, satisfied. "That's what I wanted to hear," he said. "Be sure to owl me a copy of the Prophet tomorrow. I'll be looking forward to seeing how you managed to burn Fudge at the stake."  
  
"I'll owl everyone here a copy of the Daily Prophet," Rina promised. "But right now, I'd better get back to the office before my editor has something else planned for the front page tomorrow."  
  
"I'll go with you," Angel said.  
  
Everyone turned to him, startled that he actually broke out of his moodiness to say something.  
  
"What for?" Harry asked, puzzled.  
  
"To protect her from Fudge," Faith answered for Angel.  
  
"Fudge is probably apparating himself to another continent by now," Ron spoke up. "Why do you still need to protect her?"  
  
"This is the time when he's the most dangerous," Buffy replied for them this time. "After the article Rina writes is published, Fudge can't do anything. But before the article is published, he still has a chance to salvage the situation. He'll be willing to go to great lengths to ensure that the article is never published."  
  
"How do you know so much about these things?" Hermoine asked curiously.  
  
"Experience," Willow answered wryly. "A vampire is most dangerous if he's desperate and cornered. That's because he has nothing to lose. Fudge is in a similar position right now. Once that article gets out, he would lose everything. To prevent that from happening, he's going to pull out everything he has in his arsenal."  
  
"It shouldn't be too difficult to stop him," Angel said. "Judging by his intelligence level, he would wait until Miss Falore is alone in some deserted place and then kill her. Unless I've greatly underestimated him or misread him somehow, the more subtle forms of intimidation and assassination are way beyond his intellectual capabilities."  
  
"You've been observing humans for the past two centuries," Anya said carelessly. "I've been observing them for much longer and I agree with you. He's going to be direct and go for Rina."  
  
"In that case, why don't we set a trap for him?" Faith suggested.  
  
"Exactly what I was thinking," Buffy agreed. "Rina's gonna have to be the bait."  
  
"Who's gonna be on the stakeout?" Dawn asked.  
  
"Buffy, Angel, Tara and myself," Willow responded quickly, before anyone else could speak.  
  
"Hey, what about me," Faith asked, annoyed. "It was my idea."  
  
"Sorry Faith," Willow said apologetically. "But someone needs to take care of the wizard people."  
  
Through a private mind link, Willow was sending Faith another message. 'Can't you see I'm trying to get Buffy and Angel together? They don't need an audience.'  
  
'Ahhhhh, I see,' Faith replied silently in the same fashion, hiding her smirk.

* * *

Rina Falore was having her dinner at a fancy restaurant. Buffy, Angel, Willow and Tara managed to get a table at an inconspicuous corner of the restaurant. All day, Willow and Tara had been trying to push Buffy and Angel together but their persistence had only just managed to get the two to start talking to each other.  
  
"So Buffy, how've you been," Angel asked hesitantly.  
  
"Just peachy," Buffy said, equally hesitantly. "So, how's LA?"  
  
"Oh, the usual. Crime, demons, vampires, nothing extraordinary so far."  
  
"You know you've just jinxed yourself," Buffy replied, loosening up just a little.  
  
"I can handle a few curses and jinxes," Angel replied, his dark mood lifting slightly.  
  
'Finally,' Willow thought privately to Tara. 'they're making progress.'  
  
'It sure took long enough,' Tara replied in the same manner.  
  
"But there's one curse that you've never been able to escape, right?" Buffy said without thinking.  
  
Angel's mood darkened again.  
  
'Oh crap,' Willow and Tara thought at the same time.  
  
Buffy knew she had made a faux pas immediately after she had said it. Hastily, she tried to take back her words. "I mean, uh..."  
  
"Its okay, Buffy," Angel replied sadly. "You can say it. Its true anyway."  
  
"Maybe the spell can be modified," Willow broke in suddenly.  
  
All heads turned towards her.  
  
Willow continued. "The crux of Angel's curse is the feeling of true happiness. If we could replace it with something else..."  
  
"Or replace it with nothing," Tara interrupted.  
  
Willow was startled but her expression quickly turned into a thoughtful frown. "Maybe," she said slowly, "we could replace it with a condition that can never be met."  
  
Tara seemed to understand but Buffy and Angel were understandably confused.  
  
"Wills, in English please," Buffy prompted.  
  
"Well," Willow said absently, still deep in thought. "right now, the condition for Angel to lose his soul would be to experience true happiness. If that condition was replaced with another condition that couldn't be fulfilled..."  
  
"...then the curse can never be broken," Angel finished, comprehension flooding his features.  
  
Willow nodded. "A curse is sort of like a computer program. Right now, your program goes something like 'if you experience true happiness, you lose your soul'. If I can just replace that condition with something that can never be achieved ..."  
  
"It's going to be tricky," Tara warned. "This particular spell has roots going right back to the beginning of time which makes it very powerful, but with enough research, I think that it can be done."  
  
"And if it can't, then, we'll find another way," Willow promised.  
  
Buffy and Angel looked at each other. They were thinking the same thing. To be finally free of the curse that kept them apart. It was at that moment when brightly colored smoke suddenly drifted into the restaurant from every conceivable opening.  
  
Most of the wizards and witches were startled at the development but were willing to wait and see what was going on. Buffy, Angel, Willow and Tara were not so trusting, though, and Tara immediately cast a general protection spell on them. It was a good thing she did so since the wizards and witches in the restaurant were collapsing one by one once they took even the slightest breath of the smoke.  
  
Alarmed now, the remaining patrons tried to conjure the smoke away but it seemed as if the smoke was immune to their magic. Soon, the entire restaurant was filled with bodies lying on the ground.  
  
Buffy, Willow and Tara also collapsed despite Tara's protection spell. Angel alone remained unaffected since he did not breathe. Snatching a pitcher of water, he emptied the contents of the entire pitcher onto Buffy, Willow and Tara. All three of them spluttered and woke up as the ice cold water made contact with their skin and ran into their noses.  
  
They had managed to control their coughing when the door to the restaurant opened to admit a person. The Scoobies and Angel immediately recognized Fudge. They kept silent as Fudge made his way towards Rina Falore. Grinning maniacally, he took a knife from his robes and plunged it towards Rina's heart.  
  
The next moment, he found himself on the ground, his arm broken and Buffy and Angel looming over him.  
  
"Well now, look who we have here," Buffy said pleasantly, but the genial tone of her voice did not match the hard look in her eyes.  
  
"A murderer, apparently," Willow replied, walking forward, her eyes just as cold.  
  
"You'll never be able to prove this," Fudge spat out. "No one will take the word of outsiders over the word of the Minister of Magic."  
  
"We won't have to say anything," Tara said calmly.  
  
"We won't?" Buffy, Angel and Willow exclaimed incredulously.  
  
In reply, Tara simply pointed to a spot on the ceiling. Looking up, all of them saw an eyeball embedded in the ceiling.  
  
"Eeeewww, gross," Buffy exclaimed.  
  
"I think that's the wizard's version of a security camera," Tara said coolly, looking at Fudge.  
  
At that, Fudge hung his head down. He knew he could never hope to win against a tamper-proof and magic-proof 'All Seeing Security Eye'. He was beaten and he knew it.

* * *

Moments later, aurors had taken Fudge away to be locked up and await questioning. The process of arresting Fudge had gone quite smoothly, in part, due to the presence of the 'All Seeing Security Eye' but also, because the auror heading this arrest happened to be Kingsley Shacklebolt.  
  
About an hour later, all the witches and wizards had been revived and the Scoobies and Rina slipped away, unseen from the crowd. Rina was crowing about the story she had about Fudge and the fact that there was no other reporter at the scene of the arrest. She was the only one who had pictures from the scene, quotes from the aurors as well as firsthand information. The Daily Prophet was going to wipe out the competition.  
  
After escorting Rina home where she started feverishly to write her story, the Scoobies left. However, none of them forgot the conversation they had in the restaurant. There had to be a way to break Angel's curse and Willow and Tara were going to find it.


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11  
  
Everyone was up bright and early the next morning. For obvious reasons, all of them wanted to be there when the Daily Prophet was delivered. Picking idly at their breakfast, all of them kept an eye on the windows where the owls usually flew in. Even Ron seemed to have lost his usually voracious appetite this morning.  
  
Finally, the rush of wings signaled the arrival of the owls. Each one of them had a copy of the Daily Prophet in their talons. Once the paper was deposited in front of everyone, it was snatched up at a speed that would rival a vampire's.  
  
As expected, the front page was dedicated to Fudge. Everyone watched gleefully as the picture on the front page showed Fudge being marched off by the aurors. The trial for Fudge was taking place today afternoon.  
  
Everyone read on as unflattering remark after unflattering remark continued to describe the former minister. Even Willow and Hermoine were impressed with Rina's language.  
  
"Wow, I never knew that there were so many ways to describe a complete imbecile," Willow said.  
  
"Rina turns insulting people into an art form," Hermoine agreed.  
  
"It says here that Lucius Malfoy is going to be the attorney representing Fudge," Xander remarked.  
  
"WHAT!" the Hogwarts people, with the exception of Dumbledore, shouted.  
  
"Page five, bottom right corner," Xander said helpfully.  
  
Everyone hurriedly flipped to the stated page and started scrutinizing the bottom right corner. A moment later, the faces of the Hogwarts group fell. The Scooby Gang looked at each other, wondering what was wrong.  
  
"Is there going to be a problem?" Faith asked.  
  
"I hope not," Sirius replied.  
  
Faith raised an eyebrow. Sirius noticed it and continued. "It just happens that the Malfoys have great influence in the wizarding community, being one of the oldest families."  
  
"They also happen to be filthy rich and not afraid to throw their money around," Harry said disgustedly.  
  
"Ah," Anya nodded understandingly. "You're thinking that Malfoy is going to offer the judges money in exchange for letting Fudge go."  
  
The expressions on the faces of the Hogwarts group was enough to confirm Anya's statement.  
  
"Either that or he's going to revert to the time-honored traditions of threatening and blackmail," Sirus said morosely.  
  
"Shouldn't there be precautions against this type of thing?" Dawn asked.  
  
"Malfoy will find a way," Snape muttered darkly. "He's one of the most resourceful people working for the Dark Lord."  
  
"Voldemort, Severus," Dumbledore chided gently. "There's no need to be afraid of his name."  
  
"That's easy for you to say," Snape grumbled. "You're the only wizard in the world that he fears."  
  
"Now just hold on a sec," Xander interrupted. "You mean to tell me that just because this wizard is such a bad-ass powerful Big Bad, you're all afraid to say his name?"  
  
"He's not just any wizard, Xander," Ron said, his voice trembling a little. He's the most powerful dark wizard since Grindelwald."  
  
"So what," Buffy spoke up. If I'm afraid to speak out the names of my enemies who are more powerful than me, I'm gonna be dumb for the rest of my life."  
  
"You don't understand the Dark Lord," Snape snapped at Buffy. "His power is unmatched by anyone except Dumbledore but the most frightening aspect of him is his thirst for pain, suffering and blood."  
  
The Scooby Gang raised their eyebrows. "That's his most frightening aspect?" Dawn said in disbelief. "In that case, what are we waiting for. Lets just find him and kick his butt."  
  
"Yeah," Buffy said in support of her sister. "He doesn't sound more dangerous or powerful than some of the enemies we've faced. We've never found it difficult to say 'The Master' or 'The Judge' or 'Dracula' or 'Glorificus', and all of those Big Bads are more powerful and evil than Voldy can ever hope to be in his wildest dreams."  
  
Anya continued. "And if you're thinking that what he did to torture people is bad, you've been living very sheltered lives. I can think of at least five hundred and twenty eight ways off the top of my head to inflict even more pain than his so-called torture."  
  
"I'd have to agree with Anya on this one," Angel agreed somberly. "Voldemort is but an amateur when it comes to torturing people." Briefly, his eyes fixed onto Buffy's face, remembering what he did to torture her when he lost his soul.  
  
Buffy acknowledged Angel's look, giving him a sad smile in return. "What Voldemort inflicts is merely physical pain. The evils we have faced – and defeated – inflicted not only pain on our bodies, but left scars on our hearts, our minds and even our souls."  
  
Snape looked disbelievingly at Buffy. "Apart from Dracula, I've never heard of the others, and what I've heard about Dracula is that he's just a muggle fairy tale."  
  
The entire Scooby Gang glared at Snape and then switched their focus to Hermoine when she nodded and said without thinking, "Professor Snape is right."  
  
Snape was visibly intimidated under the glares of the Scooby Gang but he tried to save his dignity by returning the stare – even though his knees were shaking uncontrollably. Suddenly, he was very glad that he was sitting down since he wasn't sure that his legs would continue supporting him.  
  
Hermoine had no such dignity to preserve and hid behind Harry and Ron when the glares of the Scoobies switched to her.  
  
Finally, Buffy replied, "For your information, Dracula is very real. We have fought him before and beaten him back. However, for some reason, he is unable to stay dusted even when a stake is pushed through his heart."  
  
"As for the rest of the evils you seem to be ignorant of," Dawn continued without missing a beat, "The Judge is an evil being who can kill you just by looking at you. The legend goes that no mortal weapon can harm him and in the olden days, it took an army to defeat him. However, he cannot be killed, so his body was dismembered into several parts and scattered around the world, awaiting the time when the parts would be brought together and assembled again."  
  
"As for the Master," Angel continued, "he was a very powerful sorcerer as well as a vampire. Put those two aspects together and you get a very dangerous combination."  
  
Willow continued, "Glorificus, or Glory, was not a demon, but a hellgod."  
  
"Technically, it should be hellgoddess," Dawn corrected.  
  
Willow shot Dawn an amused look. "Hellgoddess then," she said. "But whatever the name we choose to describe her, she is still a goddess – a higher being who is so powerful that she should exist in another plane.  
  
"She did exist in another plane, Willow," Xander reminded. "She was only kicked out of her own dimension because she was too evil, even for the other hellgods."  
  
The Hogwarts group went slightly pale at the descriptions of the foes that the Scooby gang had faced. However, Snape wasn't ready – or was too stupid – to let this subject rest.  
  
"If what you say is true, then why don't you go and destroy him now?" he asked sarcastically. "In your eyes, he should be an easy enemy to dispose of."  
  
"That's true if he's the top dog of the organization," Faith retorted. "We're not worried about Voldy if that's what you're insinuating. We're concerned about the one who's behind him and possibly dictating his actions."  
  
That made the Hogwarts group sit up and pay attention. "Behind him!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed. "What do you mean. The Dark ... I mean Voldemort is the one who is leading the Death Eaters."  
  
"That would be nice if it were true," Buffy commented. "However, judging from your descriptions of Voldy's power, unless he's experienced a massive power surge, there's no way he could have convinced that many vampires and demons to attack the wiccan meeting."  
  
Angel nodded. "You may be more knowledgeable about Voldemort, but we know vampires and demons better than you. And the one thing that can be counted on is the fact that vampires and demons only follow a master if he is much more powerful than them. From what I've heard of Voldemort so far, he doesn't meet the power requirement necessary to convince them to join him."  
  
"But what could be more powerful than the Dark Lord?" Ron asked plaintively.  
  
"We've just described four of those things to you, Ron, or have you forgotten already," Dawn replied. "But if you're looking for entities that are more powerful than Voldy, then forget it. I can think of thirty eight different types of demons off the top of my head who would consider Voldy a mere nuisance, an insect to be got rid off only if he crossed their path."  
  
"But could any of those demons not only command a whole army of vampires and demons, but convince them to put aside their legendary aloofness towards each other and work together as a team?" Angel asked.  
  
"Aloofness?" Hermoine asked curiously.  
  
"Vampires and demons have this inter-species superiority complex," Buffy explained. "Vampires think that they're at the top of the food chain and demons think that they have no predators to worry about. Hence, the two species don't cooperate with each other often and stay out of each other's way."  
  
"I must say that I can't think of anything that can convince that many demons and vampires to work with one another," Dawn admitted. "What about you guys."  
  
The Hogwarts group looked at each other with blank expressions on their faces. Voldemort was already more powerful than they could imagine and thinking that something was more powerful than him was almost impossible to them.  
  
As for the Scooby group had faced beings more powerful than Voldemort before, but none of them, with the possible exception of Glory, had the power to convince that many vampires and demons to work for them. Only Angel and Anya had slightly disturbed looks on their faces.  
  
Buffy was the first to notice the expressions on Angel and Anya's faces. She immediately rounded on them. "Okay, you guys know something. Spill it."  
  
Angel and Anya looked at each other before Angel spoke. "There is one entity that is capable of joining the ranks of demons and vampires. Do you remember the First Evil?"  
  
Buffy's eyes widened as she took in the implications.  
  
Anya concurred with Angel's opinion. "Apart from the First, there's no other being that I can think of that's capable of such a feat."  
  
"The First Evil," Willow muttered. "The stuff from which all evil originates. If the First has taken Voldemort as a host, we have a major problem."  
  
"That's probably why the killing curse didn't kill him when it rebounded from Harry," Tara said thoughtfully. "The First was watching over him and when the curse hit Voldemort, the First was just waiting to claim its vessel."  
  
"But the spell destroyed the body, though," Willow continued. "If I'm right, the main priority of the First would be to secure its hold on its vessel. The second priority would be to restore the vessel to a more tangible form."  
  
"A more tangled form?" Xander interrupted, looking confused.  
  
"The word is tan-gi-ble, Xander," Willow replied, looking amused. "In short, basically the First wanted a physical body for a vessel instead of a disembodied spirit."  
  
"But if the First is such an all-powerful entity, why doesn't it just wave its hand – if it has a hand – and just give Voldy his body back?" Dawn asked.  
  
It was Buffy who replied. "No one is all-powerful, Dawn. Every entity has its limits. Glory was a goddess, a divine being..."  
  
She trailed off as the Scooby Gang turned to stare at her.  
  
"...Okay, well, maybe not so divine, but more like a hellish godlike being," Buffy amended hastily. "Anyway, even though she was powerful, Willow managed to fight her and even stop her if only for a little while. Considering that Glory was supposedly the meanest and most powerful hellgod in her dimension and Willow was only at the baseline of her powers at that time, it showed me that all beings, no matter how powerful they might seem to be, have their limits."  
  
"But considering that it's the First that we're talking about, it can't have spent over a decade just to acquire a body," Angel cut in. "If he wanted a physical vessel that badly, he could have gotten one within a few months."  
  
"Unless he was distracted by something else," Faith said suddenly. "I mean, if the First is anything like one of the Big Bads that we've faced in the past, its more interested in bringing hell to Earth. What if he spent his time recruiting demons and vampires instead of trying to restore a body?"  
  
Everyone became silent as they considered that unpleasant possibility.  
  
Finally Dumbledore said slowly, "If what you say is true, then, Voldemort, or rather, the First Evil came into this world over a decade ago to plan its destruction."  
  
"And over the years, it has bided its time, amassing an army of demons, vampires and who knows what else in order to fulfill its plans of bringing death and destruction into this world," Anya said, looking unexpectedly solemn. 


End file.
